What an Anamoly Is
by ScifigeekET
Summary: When a girl walks into the ARC, things get strange. Stranger still when she knows who Claudia is... Contains everyone from the first and second series, including Steven but is after series 2 finale. Don't ask how that works. Please read and Review!
1. New Girl in the ARC

1. New girl in the ARC

She kept walking. The creatures behind her were playing, having fun nipping at each other's ears. She'd been walking through this cold, sandy desert for far too long. Her feet ached. She had cried yesterday, but now she remembered. It did her no good to cry.

And then she saw it. A shimmering distortion in the light. She smiled and started to walk towards it. She started to speed up, going at a fast walk, and then running all out to her goal. This was her escape. She would be free at last from this desert.

She ran through the light.

And then, suddenly, it closed behind her.

There was no way out.

Nick Cutter walked into the ARC.

"Ah. You're here." Lester greeted him. "Good."

Cutter's eyes widened slightly. It was GOOD that he was here? That was a first. Lester didn't think that anything was GOOD.

"We had a team investigate an anomaly that appeared last night." Lester went on, walking down the corridor, making sure Cutter was following. "Guess what they found?"

"Nothing good, I take it." Cutter replied.

Lester looked at him. "If only it were that simple. Truth be told, we don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing."

"And why's that?" Cutter asked, interested.

"Take a look."

They had stopped in front of a door. Cutter looked at Lester, and then opened it. Inside was a large window that lead into a different room.

"Oh." Cutter said, surprised.

In the room on the other side of the window, was a young girl.

She couldn't have been older then fourteen. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes that looked like the bright blue that one might almost describe as metallic. She had pale skin that was covered in small scars, and some not-so-small scars. But the most noticeable feature was a pattern on her face. It was the same color as her eyes, and surrounded her right eye. It was a small layer on her right eye, not above it, but to the side, practically pointing upwards. It swirled in intricate patterns. Just under her eye, on the cheekbone, there was another one, only this one was just a simple circle, and it somewhat seemed like part of the other pattern, though it wasn't attached to it in any way. It could have been described as a tattoo, but it seemed so much more natural than that.

The girl looked around the room, terrified.

"The anomaly closed before we could get her back." Lester explained. "We haven't been able to get a word out of her."

Cutter looked at him. "Can't talk?"

"I wish. She talks in… I don't know what it is. But it isn't English."

The girl looked around the room.

"See what you can find out." Lester said, leaving the room.

Behind the window, Steven Hart, Abby Maitland, and Connor Temple were already trying to talk to her.

"Did you walk through this?" Connor was asking. He pushed a picture towards her. On it was an Anomaly.

The girl shivered, not responding. She was sitting down at a table, Connor sitting across from her.

"We're trying to get her to respond to anything. Just so we can know how she reacts to the bigger questions." Steven explained to Cutter.

Cutter nodded.

"An-om-al-y." Connor tried. He wrote the word down on a piece of paper.

"That won't work." Abby said. "She doesn't understand English, remember?"

"I know!" Connor said defensively. He tried to erase it, but the girl stretched her hand over, touching the pen, stopping his hand. Her expression was curious. She gently touched the paper, and then slid it over to her side of the table. She looked at it, concentrating.

"Ah…" She tried. "Ah… Nom…Ah… Ly. Anomaly." She smiled, proud of herself.

Everyone stared. For once, Connor recovered first. "Yes," He encouraged. "Anomaly." He pushed the picture forward. He pointed at both the word and the picture and said, "Anomaly."

She looked up. "Anomaly." She paused. "Olecta?" She asked, pointing to the picture. "Anomaly?"

Connor nodded. "Anomaly."

She looked at the picture. "Etac Olecta. Eto makta. E, Florlic! Florlic Eto makta!"

"Woah, slow down." Abby said. She pointed at the picture. "Did you come through this? The Anomaly?"

She looked confused.

Connor took the paper and drew a stick figure walking through a circle with lines around it. "Did you do this?"

She looked at the picture. She pointed at the figure, and then at herself. "Quarta?"

Connor nodded. "Yes, that's you. Did you do that?" He pointed at the picture.

Slowly, the girl nodded. "Etac Olecta."

Almost everyone smiled in relief.

Cutter took over. He took the paper and wrote,

_Cutter. _

She read the word. She concentrated for a moment, but seemed to come up empty. "Quana?"

He pointed at the word, and then at himself. "Cutter." He explained.

She nodded, understanding. She looked at the word again. "Cuh…Ter. Cutter." She smiled.

Cutter nodded. He wrote down another name.

_Steven _

He pointed to Steven. She read the word and concentrated. "Ste-ven. Steven."

There was some shock that she didn't need to hear it first, but she seemed pleased with herself. Cutter continued writing and pointing.

_Connor._

"Connor."

_Abby._

"Abby."

Cutter smiled at Lester who had appeared outside of the window. He pointed and wrote,

_Lester._

"Lester."

Then he pointed to her.

Her eyes grew cold. "Nieata." Was her simple reply.

"Nieata?" Connor asked.

She shook her head.

Cutter wrote down the word _No._

She concentrated, saying the word, and then nodded.

"She won't tell us." Steven concluded.

"Yep." Cutter replied.

"Why?" Connor asked. He wrote it down.

Her eyes narrowed. "Nieata lorakna. Ito ectana fortika. Lanarok Sparla."

A few of the team members shook their heads and sighed.

"Nieata." She said again.

Connor sighed. _Where? _He wrote. He handed her the paper.

She focused, and then looked around the room. Pictures had been put up all over the wall.

She walked over to one, and pulled it off the wall, handing it to Connor.

It was a picture of a Predator.

"Norato." She said.

Connor's eyes were wide. "Oh…Kay…"

It was at this time that Jenny Lewis walked into the room.

"Ah." Cutter said. He took the paper and pointed to her. He had to erase the 'C' that he had started to write, but it was all for nothing. The girl shrieked out a name happily when she saw Jenny.

"_Claudia!"_


	2. English

2. English.

Everyone's eyes were wide. The girl was smiling.

Jenny tensed slightly. "My name isn't Claudia." She said, glaring at Cutter like it was his fault this girl had shrieked out the name that no longer belonged to her.

The girl's smile faded. "Etaca? Claudia! Eca laurna! Yota laorat nakto! E Florlic! The Guard!"

"What do you know about Claudia?" Cutter asked, somewhat desperate, but not missing the small bit of English the girl had said. _The Guard. _

She looked at him, then pointed at Jenny. "Claudia?"

He shook his head. _Jenny. _He wrote.

"Jeh-ney. Jenny?"

She stood up and looked at Jenny. There was absolute silence for a moment, and then something seemed to click in the small girl's mind.

"Oh…" A tear began to form in her eye. "Tolio Terria." She whispered softly. She stumbled back into the chair, her eyes blank.

"What do you know about Claudia?" Cutter asked again. Desperate as he was, he wrote the whole sentence down and handed her the paper.

It took her only slightly longer to read the sentence as she had the words. "Claudia… Knows…Ita."

"What?"

The girl pointed to herself. "Liska…Knew… Claudia."

_You knew Claudia? _Cutter wrote.

She looked at it and nodded.

_How?_

"Tolio Terria."

_What?_

She sighed. "Liska normalk, dee nako!"

He sighed as well.

Lester walked into the room. "Anything?" he asked.

The girl smiled slightly. "Lester." She said proudly.

Lester's eyes widened slightly. "Very amusing." Like Jenny had, he turned to Cutter as though it was his fault.

The girl looked at Connor and pointed at the paper. "Erta?"

Connor took the paper and wrote down Lester's comment.

She studied it, and a small frown crossed her face. "No… Not… Amusing. Twerta!" She turned to face Cutter. "Telo?"

Cutter shrugged, and she shrugged back.

"So… She does know English." Lester commented.

"No, actually." Cutter replied. "She's just learning."

Lester looked confused for a moment. "What?" He asked.

"She can't say it until she reads it." Connor said, coming into the conversation.

"Erta?" The girl asked, pointing to the paper. Connor wrote down what he had said. She studied it, and then exclaimed, nodding, "Telo!"

"That's not English." Lester commented.

"Not… Not…" She tried.

_English _ Connor wrote.

"English!" She exclaimed, proud of herself.

Lester's eyes widened slightly. "Well that's all very well, but have you gotten to any of the larger questions?" He pointed to the pattern on her eye. "Like what that is, for instance?"

The girl looked around the room, confused. Connor wrote the question down. She studied it, and then nodded slowly. She looked around the room again, and her eyes focused on Connor's pant pocket.

The sound of a phone ringing made everyone jump. Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket so that he could turn it off, but stopped. "That is weird." He said. He showed the others his phone's screen.

It was like a mirror. The girl was smiling and waving on the phone and in real life. She looked proud of herself.

"This phone doesn't have video." Connor said. "How did you do that?"

She shrugged.

"So… What? You can make cell phones ring? That's it?" Lester asked. Cutter wrote it down.

She studied it, and then shook her head. She looked around the room again. Her eyes focused on a light bulb and it began flickering on and off.

"Technology?" Abby asked. Cutter wrote it down, and the girl nodded, smiling.

Lester shook his head slowly. "All right, Jenny, get a dictionary and show her the basics. We need answers that don't come from a game of twenty questions."

Jenny nodded, but the girl's eyes had gotten colder as she read Lester's statement that Connor had written down. "No." She said. "Connor shows Ita the basics." She pointed at Connor.

A few of the team half-smiled at Connor's expression.

"Erita, Jenny." The girl said, looking at Jenny. It was clearly an apology. "Tolio Terria Sertia morkla Claudia… Erto clersa."

"Oh, very well." Lester said. "Connor, you show her."

A few hours later, Cutter was standing outside of the window again. Inside, the girl was reading the dictionary. After seeing the major words, she decided to take over from there, taking the dictionary from Connor.

Lester came into the room where Cutter was watching. "How's she doing?" He asked.

"3,000 words and still going." Cutter replied. "She's a machine."

There was a pause, and then Cutter continued. "You know, that could be what we're dealing with."

Lester looked at him. "What?"

"Think about it. She's obviously from the future. How do we know that she isn't a machine? It would make sense. How she can learn these words, how she can make cell phones ring and lights flicker."

Lester looked at him. "You mean that she could be A.I.?"

Cutter nodded.

"Good grief. That's all we need. A glorified tin can."

Cutter smiled.

There was a pause. "Let's see what she knows." Lester said, breaking the silence. "Shall we?"


	3. Anamoly

3. Anomaly

Two guards entered the girl's room. "Come with us."

The girl eyed the guns meaningfully, but said nothing, following them.

Inside the main room of the ARC, the small girl marveled at the Anomaly Detection Device. "Interila." She breathed.

Lester rolled his eyes. "Please."

She smiled and turned to him. "Sorry. It's just…" She looked back at the machine. "Interila."

"Meaning?"

She smiled again. "I think your word would be 'incredible.'"

Lester rolled his eyes. "It would be like one glorified tin can to notice another glorified tin can."

She looked at him, confused. "I'm… sorry, that… doesn't make sense. There's only a few ways those words could be used together…" She paused, and then something clicked, and a smile crossed her face. "You… You think I'm a… a…" She started to laugh, unable to take it anymore. "You think I'm a ROBOT?"

"I wouldn't put it past you." He replied.

She grinned. "I'm not a robot. I'm… Human. Sort of."

"Sort of?" Cutter asked. The guards behind the girl looked uneasy, and one of them pressed their gun closer to her. She rolled her eyes.

"Can you PLEASE tell those idiots that I'm not going to hurt anyone?" She asked, pointing at the guards behind her with her thumb. "They're annoying."

"Maybe, if you tell me what you meant when you said 'sort of.'" Lester replied.

She thought about it for a moment. "I'm… Human, just not in your exact terms. I'm from your future, where everyone is like me."

Lester nodded towards the guards, and they backed off, if only a little.

"Thank you." She said, smiling.

"Don't mention it." Lester replied. "Now, what do you mean by everyone?"

She smiled. "That's not clear? What? Am I not talking English here?"

Lester rolled his eyes. "I was asking if everyone had that." He pointed to the pattern on her face. "And could manipulate technology like you."

"Well…" She thought about it for a moment. "Yes and no. The patterns are different on everyone. They're what you would call a birthmark, so to speak. Everyone's different. And everyone had a different technology they can manipulate. It's… Complex, to say the least."

"And… What?" Cutter asked, joining the conversation. "You're just… born with the ability to do that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. We ARE still human, you know. In a sense." She shook her head. "No. It's an implant. Everyone gets it. It's placed in here." She traced the pattern on her eye. "And where ever else we have one of these." She pulled her long-sleeved shirt's sleeve up her arm until another blue mark showed. Like the one right under her eye, it was just a simple circle. "We're born with it, and then the implants are put in it. It's a good thing and a bad thing, though."

"How?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "We can get into the complexities of that later. It'd take a long time, which you don't have."

Everyone looked confused.

The girl counted down slowly and quietly. "Five…Four…Three… Two…And One."

An alarm went off as the ADD detected an Anomaly. The girl smiled. She walked over to it. "Told you."

She read the coordinates, concentrated for a moment, and then the smile disappeared, and she paled.

"Not. Good." She whispered.

"Step away from that! That's government property!" Lester commanded. One of the guards came forward and pointedly pushed her in the back with his gun. She ignored them both, her fingers tapping the keys.

"Step away now." The guard ordered. The girl looked at him, and then turned her head back to the screen.

It was hard to tell what happened next. One moment, the girl was staring at the screen, and the next, she was staring at the screen with a ball of crumpled metal on the floor, and the guard who had been behind her was in a hole in the wall. Those with sharper eyes had caught her movements. She was like lightning. She had whirled around, grabbing the gun, and pushing the guard into the wall behind her. Then, she had crumpled the gun into a large metal ball and turned to the screen again.

"I don't have time for games." She said quietly, coldly.

The other guard came up behind her as quickly as he could, and slapped handcuffs on her wrists.

"You said you wouldn't hurt anyone." Lester said harshly.

The girl rolled her eyes. A quick blast of electricity blazed on the handcuffs, and they snapped. "Not if they don't try to hurt me."

There was silence, and then Connor said, "Ok, you have to admit that was cool."

The girl smiled. "You're talking to a girl who fights Predators everyday so she doesn't get eaten. I think I might have picked up a few things in my fourteen years."

"So… you're fourteen?" Lester asked.

The girl rolled her eyes. "YOU HAVE AN ANOMALY ALERT! MOVE ALREADY!" She slapped her hand to her forehead.

"There's already a team on it." Lester said, calm for once.

She rolled her eyes. "Well that won't do any good." She started to head for the exit, but two nervous-looking guards blocked her path. She glared at them with cold eyes.

"I'm afraid you can't do anything either." Lester told the girl.

The girl had a dangerously calm face. "Tell me, Lester. Do you have ANY idea how much paperwork there will be if I get out?" She asked.

Lester just looked at her.

"Now. There would be a whole lot more paperwork if I accidentally hurt someone on my way out." She glared. "Wouldn't there?"

He looked into her eyes.

She stepped towards him. "Lester, have you ever seen an angry Florlic?"

He looked at her. "What?"

Her eyes were cold. "You don't want to see one, that's what. Trust me on that one. And they will trash whole cities to get to me."

Lester stared into her eyes. "Why?"

She smiled coldly, and it sent chills down Lester's spine, though he would never show it. "Because they're mine." She said simply.

She looked at everyone around her, and then walked towards the guards again.

"Hold it!" Lester called.

She turned to face him.

He sighed. "There's still paperwork if I let you out. I'll need a name."

She half-smiled. "I'm never saying my name again." She looked down. "It's interesting, isn't it? Anywhere else the first word I learnt would be the most important one. I don't think it's any different here." She paused, and then looked at him. "Anomaly. My name is Anomaly."


	4. Florlic

4. Florlic

**A/N: In hindsight, I know that the Florlics aren't exactly 'realistic', but I think they would be cool. Also, if you had to have something guarding you in a future with the predators, then the Florlics would be great at that. They are, after all, the world's greatest guard dogs. So, I don't need reviews or comments about how unrealistic it is. Trust me, I know. It was a random thing that my mind decided to give me, and the idea hasn't let go. If you don't like it, it's your loss. Also, don't just ditch once you know what they are, simply BECAUSE they're unrealistic. Why COULDN'T some idiot scientist create them like that? (Stress the IDIOT part. You get my drift.) So, I'm actually not that bad at this, but I wrote this a long time ago, and I wanted to keep them in, because they're kinda cool. And they're pretty important to the story. And if you wanted a guard dog, THESE WOULD BE PERFECT IN THE FUTURE SHE LIVES IN!!!!!!!**

Anomaly walked out of the ARC, the rest of the team close behind.

"Ertaka!" She spat. She started walking.

"Where are you going? We have a car." Connor said.

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll see you ten minutes after I get there." She started running.

She was incredibly fast. Not exactly superhuman at first, but after a moment, she was. She blazed through the streets, slightly faster, and a lot smaller then a car. She whizzed past traffic, ignoring streetlights, and jumping over the cars that came too close.

As promised, the others were there about ten minutes after her.

"So, where are these things?" Steven asked.

She pointed towards the sky. "There. That's them."

They were hard to make out, at first. All anyone could see were four large birds. But when they came closer, you saw that they were not birds.

They were dogs.

They were the size of wolves, and seemed large and powerful. But the curious thing about them was that they had wings. Huge wings, covered in fur that was the same color as the dogs themselves. One of them was a red-brown color, another a black and white color. The third was brown and black, with white paws and chest, and the fourth was brown with a white chest, like the third.

"Erto ricta!" Anomaly called. "Ikesa! Kesea! Ferakesa! Guard! Terlo mikta reitas o maktal!"

The winged dogs swooped downwards, landing next to Anomaly.

They looked at the rest of the team and growled.

"Drop the guns." Anomaly said. "They don't like weapons."

Everyone complied, but they kept growling.

"E Cutter, Steven, Abby, Connor." Anomaly said to the dogs, pointing at each person as she said the names. "Norkto fleron pokital talorio. Perto bliktos."

Three of them backed down, but the other, the largest, did not. He growled in the back of his throat.

"Ikesa!" Anomaly said. "Eekto clersa makto firata! Plerto maktla frerta!"

The dog backed down, sitting next to the others.

The smallest of the four seemed comfortable with the other humans already. Particularly Abby, as he came over and let her pet his head. In fact, he insisted, licking her hand until she pet him.

"Guard! Erta! Morpilo?" Anomaly said.

The dog just looked at her, barked, and turned back to Abby.

"What are they?" Cutter asked, genuinely interested. He walked over to the smallest one and looked at it. He crouched down next to it, trying to look at its face.

The dog licked him.

Cutter groaned and tried to wipe the slobber off of his face.

Anomaly smiled. "They're called Florlics. Some idiot genetic scientist accidentally created them, fusing the wings to the dogs. And then they became the more advanced species. Simple, really."

"They're so cute!" Abby said, also crouching down next to the smallest one.

The other three growled, and the largest barked. The smallest one, the one with the white chest and brown fur, whimpered. He walked over to the others.

"Ikesa. Norkto." Anomaly said.

The largest looked at her for a moment, and then backed down. The smallest looked like he couldn't believe his luck, and ran back to Abby.

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "Typical." She turned to the others. "They have a highly advanced intelligence, so they understand commands better then the dogs of your kind." She pointed at them from largest to smallest. "That's Ikesa, Kesea, Ferakesa, and The Guard." She said.

Connor looked at her. "But…The Guard… that's English."

Anomaly got a faraway look in her eyes, and they turned cold. "It's a long story." She whispered.

No one particularly liked the look on her face, so they backed off.

The smallest, The Guard, barked happily at Abby. Ikesa looked at him like he wanted to snap at him, but did nothing.

Ikesa was black and white, and looked like an Alaskan Husky. He had one blue eye and one brown, and was obviously larger then the others.

Kesea was brown, with a black muzzle and ears, a white chest, and white paws. Her eyes were a deep brown, and she seemed to never leave Ikesa's side.

Ferakesa was red-brown, and had deep chocolate eyes. He was smaller then all the others, save one.

The Guard was brown, with a white chest. He was undoubtedly the smallest of the four, and the friendliest.

"Ertomak!" Anomaly ordered. "Norkto pliktolait!"

The Florlics stood, and walked over to her. Even The Guard obeyed, after casting one last longing look at Abby.

"Come on." Anomaly said to the others. "Let's get out of here."

No one seemed to have any objections, least of all the Florlics, who spread their wings after a quick command from their master.

Back at the ARC, the Florlics were sitting down next to Anomaly.

"What in the world are they?" Lester asked looking at the large dogs.

Ikesa growled at him, and Lester backed away.

"Ikesa! Normolateo!" Anomaly ordered.

Ikesa whimpered, and nudged Lester's hand with his nose.

Lester looked at him. Ikesa was still whimpering. Finally, Lester gave in and gave him a quick pat on the head.

Anomaly smiled. "So. What are we going to do about all this? We can't send them through the anomaly again. I already closed it."

Connor looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "You closed it?"

Anomaly nodded. "Long story."

"Well, personally I think they should be…disposed of…" Lester started. The Florlics growled in the backs of their throats, perfectly in sync.

Anomaly looked at him. "Did I mention they're slightly telepathic? They know what your emotions are. They can also read each other's minds."

"Ah." Lester said, looking at the Florlics as though they carried the plague. "Very well. We'll have to find something else."

The Florlics still growled, but the noise was softer.

"You know, it's really stupid to get a Florlic on your bad side."

Lester just looked at her.

"Still." Connor said, breaking the silence. "We have to find out what we're going to do with them."

Lester sighed. "And with you, Anomaly. You're potentially dangerous. I can't have you near normal…humans."

The Florlics growled again, this time louder than before.

"You really shouldn't do that." Anomaly's eyes were cold.

Lester looked at her. "Quite frankly, your oversized poodles don't scare me. What are we going to do with you?"

The Florlics growled again, this time revealing sharp white teeth.

Lester glanced at them, a little wary this time.

"Really. Stop while you still have both of your legs."

Lester looked at the dogs, and nodded. "But that doesn't solve the problem, does it?"

Anomaly shrugged. "I thought the problem was already solved."

Her response was met by blank looks.

"Wow. People from your time are…what is it? Idiots. Yep, that's the word."

Lester stood up straight, indignant. "I beg your pardon?"

"Idiots. Meaning: an utterly foolish or senseless person. I-D-I-O-T. You people have no BRAINS."

The Guard barked, though it seemed more like a laugh than a bark. The other Florlics joined him, growling a low growl that broke off intermittently so that it sounded like a chuckle.

"Then what's your incredibly perfect solution?" Lester demanded.

Anomaly shrugged. "I would have thought it was obvious." She looked at him. "I've seen what you people do. I know about this stuff." Her eyes met his.

"I want to join you."


	5. The New Kid

5. The New Kid

"NO! Absolutely not!"

Lester's reply rang out through the ARC.

"Why not?" Anomaly asked, her voice softer then his.

Lester looked at her, his eyes wide. "Do…Do you have any idea how DANGEROUS it would be? I can't have my team risking their life trying to save you!"

Her eyes locked on his. "And why would they have to save me?"

Lester snorted. "Why else? You're just a kid…"

Kesea growled in the back of her throat as Anomaly glared at him, interrupting his sentence. "I'm old enough to fight Predators. Old enough to be banished from my home. Old enough to do things you can only dream of."

Lester took an involuntary step back, trying to avoid the look in her eyes. There was absolute silence for a minute.

Finally, Anomaly rolled her eyes. "Look. I'll be reading the dictionary. Think about it, and give me your answer." Her eyes narrowed. "You've already seen what I can do."

She walked out of the room, and there was silence.

"Maybe we could give her a chance…" Connor finally spoke up, and all heads turned to him.

"No." Lester replied. "Do you have any idea how…?"

"Look, she's right." Connor interrupted him. "She obviously knows something about the anomalies. What if we just gave her a chance?"

Lester sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to concentrate.

Finally, Cutter spoke up. "I think he's right."

All eyes turned to him.

Cutter shrugged. "If she knows something, maybe she could help…"

Lester sighed again, louder this time. "Fine! We'll hire another amateur. Why should it matter that she's barely out of diapers?"

Cutter smiled.

* * *

Anomaly sighed, twirling the cell phone in between her fingers. Electricity danced over her hands in quick bursts.

"Hello?" Connor's voice drifted in through the door.

"Hi." Anomaly's answer rang out clearly.

"Lester thought about what you said…" Connor trailed off.

Anomaly raised an eyebrow, the pattern above her eye shifting with the movement. "And…?"

Connor smiled. "Welcome to the team."

Anomaly's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Connor nodded.

Anomaly smiled. "I knew he'd break down."

Connor sat down next to her. "He does need some… information. You know. Paperwork."

Anomaly chuckled humorlessly. "Like any of my information would help." She shook her head slowly. "All right. Ask away."

"Well… I don't know…" Connor looked nervous.

Anomaly smiled. "Look. If you don't know what to ask, just find someone who does." She handed the phone to him. "Oh, and give this back to the guard. He doesn't really know I took it."

Connor looked at her. "No, I…" He realized what she'd said and raised an eyebrow. "You stole it?"

Anomaly was the picture of innocence. "I'm giving it back, aren't I?"

Connor took the phone from her. "You have a habit of doing that?"

Anomaly shrugged. "I'm used to being a pain. It's kind of my job."

Connor looked at her. "Right…"

* * *

Anomaly sighed after what seemed like hours of questions and answers. "Can I go now?" She asked Lester.

"I'm afraid not." Lester replied.

Anomaly groaned.

"You're the one who pointed out how much paperwork there would be if I let you out." Lester told her matter-of-factly.

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "That was then. This is now."

Lester smiled smugly.

Anomaly's eyes narrowed. "You're getting revenge on me for joining your team, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you mean." Lester replied.

Anomaly glared at him. "I'm watching you…"

Lester rolled his eyes. "If we could continue…"

Anomaly shrugged. "If you don't want your phone back." She pulled out a small black device and twirled it between her fingers.

Lester sighed, reaching out a hand. "Give it back."

Anomaly looked at though she was considering it. "Maybe…If you let me out of here."

Lester sighed. Anomaly smiled.

Finally, Lester gave up. "Fine. Give me the phone and get out of here."

Anomaly smiled and handed the device over to him. "I knew you'd listen to reason." She said, standing up and walking over the door. She barked out a few orders to her Florlics, who looked glad to be able to stretch their legs.

"Once you've answered a few more questions."

Anomaly groaned. "Come on! I need to get out of here!"

Lester pointed to the chair. "Sit." He ordered.

The Florlics whimpered.

Lester narrowed his eyes as he looked at them. "You too."

Ikesa nudged his hand.

Lester looked at him. "Now."

Ikesa whimpered, turning to Anomaly, who sighed and nodded.

The Florlics sat down, and so did Anomaly, though not before swiping Lester's wallet.

"So." She said, flipping through the wallet, not seeming to care what was inside it. "What do you need to know?"

"Your real name."

Anomaly's eyes narrowed, and the hair on the back of the Florlic's necks stood up. "Neirta norfalo." She hissed.

"Tell me. Or you can't go anywhere."

Anomaly sat back. "Anomaly. That's my name."

Lester sighed. "Don't make this any harder."

"Otlecta." She replied. "It means 'Anomaly.' Put that down if you need to." She dangled the wallet in front of his face, obviously intending to snatch it away if he reached for it.

Lester looked at her. "Anomaly it is then." He finally said.

Anomaly smiled. "Glad we have an understanding." She tossed the wallet towards him.

Lester picked it up and put it in his pocket. "Now, if we can continue…"

Anomaly shrugged. "What else would you need to know?"

"Place and Date of Birth?"

Anomaly shrugged. "I don't know. We don't keep time like you do. But I was born in Artalis."

Lester sighed. "We'll ignore that one, shall we?"

Anomaly smiled. "Can I go now?"

"No."

She groaned. "Come ON!"

"You're only making this harder on yourself." Lester's voice was cold and emotionless.

Anomaly sighed. "What else?"

"How old are you?"

Anomaly thought about this for a moment. Finally, she answered. "Twenty-three."

Lester raised an eyebrow. "Well, I highly doubt that."

Anomaly shrugged. "Believe what you want. Technically, I'm twenty-three. In your terms."

Lester set his pen on the table. "Explain."

She looked at him. "I'm technically fourteen. But, mentally speaking… I'm twenty-three." She shrugged again. "We mature faster then you do."

Lester's eyes narrowed. "Fourteen it is."

Anomaly sighed loudly. "At least compromise. Say… seventeen."

Lester looked at her. Finally, he nodded. "Fine. Seventeen it is."

Truth be told, Lester only agreed because it was possible. She could pass off for seventeen, with a stretch of the imagination. Maybe sixteen. If she looked younger then she was… Well, it was an explanation, at least.

Anomaly leaned back in her chair. "Anything else?" Suddenly, her ears pricked. She sat up strait, rigid in her chair. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

Lester looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

Anomaly didn't answer him, instead rising to her feet and heading for the door. The Florlics followed, and a whimper escaped from Ikesa's throat.

"You have another anomaly alert." Anomaly whispered.

Lester looked at her. "Two in one day? That's highly unlikely…"

"Listen!" Anomaly hissed, before walking again. "Can't you HEAR it?"

Lester remained quiet for a moment. Finally, he spoke up. "I can't her anyth…"

He was cut off as a siren wailed around them, red lights flashing.

"Ertaca!" Anomaly spat. She started to run, a blur as she raced towards the center of the ARC.

"What do we got?" Next to the ADD, Abby was taking to Connor.

"Another anomaly." Another voice entered as Anomaly sped next to them. "A little way away from here."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…"

"What are we waiting for?" Anomaly looked around at the equipment, and grabbed a small gun. "Let's do this."

"Woah, woah woah." Steven walked over to Anomaly and plucked the gun out of her hands. "Weapons are my expertise, short stuff. You don't need a gun."

Anomaly's eyes narrowed, and her hand sparkled with electricity for a split second. For a second, it looked like she would attack Steven then and there.

But, after a moment, she managed to calm herself down. "Don't call me short stuff." She snarled, then turned on her heel and sped out the door.

This time, Anomaly went with the others in the car. Cutter sat next to her. He'd been waiting for a chance to talk to her, and there might not be another time…

He cleared his throat. "Anomaly… I'm just curious…"

Anomaly sighed. "You want to know about Claudia, don't you?"

Cutter's eyes widened. "Yes." He whispered.

Pain, pure and absolute, washed through Anomaly, shown clearly in her eyes. "It's a long story, Cutter."

"Please." Cutter whispered. "I need to know."

A tear sparkled in Anomaly's eye, but she wiped it away before Cutter could really be sure it was there. She turned to him. "Tolio Terria." She said, returning to her native language, whatever that was. "Itara norfallow." She sighed. "It was an old legend. No one would believe it when it came true." She looked down. "And it DID come true. One hundred years before I was born. No one accepted it until there was undeniable proof. And there was." She looked back at him, her voice and eyes mournful. "Oh, there was proof."

She looked out the window. This girl had so much mystery surrounding her, a past that was best hidden.

But Cutter wanted to know. "Proof of what?"

A tear sparkled down Anomaly's cheek, unseen by anyone. "Proof of time collapsing." She replied.

Cutter's eyes widened.

"Proof of those lost coming back." She continued. "Proof that it IS possible to change time by changing the past." She closed her eyes. "Proof that time can bite back." She whispered.

Cutter looked at her, his eyes wide.

Anomaly said nothing further, and Cutter didn't ask her to. He had a feeling that was all she was going to say.

Steven, who was driving, turned to face them. "We're here." He said.

Anomaly was out of the car before anyone could blink. "Right!" She called. "What's the deal?"

Everyone looked at her.

"What?" She asked. "You don't have a plan?"

Connor came over to her. "Well, we kind of just make it up as we go along."

Anomaly's eyes were wide. "Do you have any idea how DANGEROUS that is?" She demanded.

Everyone looked down.

Anomaly's face broke into a smile. "I'm liking this more and more."

Everyone looked back at her.

The Florlics, who had been flying too high for anyone to see, swooped down and landed next to them. The hair on the back of their necks was standing up, and they were growling.

Anomaly smiled. "Show time." She started to walk. She had no idea where they were, but seemed to navigate around the area with ease.

They split up into teams of two, with one exception. Connor went with Abby. Steven tried to follow Anomaly, but she nodded towards Cutter, stopping him in his tracks.

"You two stick together." She ordered. "I'm better going solo."

Steven thought for a moment, then nodded. The girl had four huge dogs with wings following her. What could go wrong?

They searched for about ten minutes. The hand-held anomaly detectors had been giving a bad signal for some reason, so they'd dropped those and searched for the anomaly the old-fashioned way.

Connor swallowed, suddenly nervous. "So…"

Abby raised an eyebrow, looking at him over her shoulder. "Yes…?"

Connor flinched. "Nothing. Never mind."

Abby smiled. "What?"

Connor was clearly embarrassed, looking in any direction but towards her. "Forget it. It was nothing."

Abby's smile widened. "Come on, Connor. You can tell me…"

Connor blushed. "It was nothing, ok? Just… drop it."

Abby kept smiling. She looked ahead.

And her eyes widened.

"Connor." She hissed.

Connor looked up. "Yeah?"

Abby flinched. Connor was so LOUD. "Come here." She whispered.

Connor walked over to her. "What is it?"

Abby nodded her head towards the thing in front of them.

Connor looked, and his eyes widened as well. "Oh."

There, in front of them, was the largest anomaly they'd ever seen.

And, standing in front of THAT, was a creature larger then the anomaly itself.


	6. Empathy

6. Empathy

Anomaly stood up straight, her ears pricked. The Guard whined behind her. Ferakesa growled at the back of his throat. Kesea went closer to Ikesa, who nudged Anomaly's hand. His deep, different-colored eyes looked into hers. Anomaly nodded and looked ahead.

"Istaria." She whispered the command, and then took off, a blur as she ran.

* * *

Connor looked at Abby, his breath caught in his throat. The creature in front of them was HUGE.

Suddenly, something came up behind him, and Connor would have cried out if someone's hand had not covered his mouth in a split second.

Anomaly looked at Connor, shaking her head slowly, one finger to her lips.

She turned to the creature, and a smile brushed across her face. "Interlia." She breathed.

The creature was large, and looked out of place in this woodland terrain. It had two enormous flippers, which were slightly arched towards the creature's body. It was black, for the most part, with a few shades of dark green. It had a long, thick neck that reached almost above the treetops. A thick, whip-like tail slashed around behind it, knocking into trees and causing more damage to them then to the actual creature. Two dark, beady eyes stared out, seeing everything, and yet nothing. Bright white teeth gleamed sharply in its mouth, which was more of a pointed snout then a mouth. It's sleek, dark body wouldn't have looked out of place underwater.

In short, the perfect image of the Loch Ness Monster.

Anomaly smiled, and the Florlics behind her relaxed. "It's ok." She whispered to the others. "He won't hurt us."

She walked out of the cover of the trees, straight into the creature's line of sight. She kept her hands raised, as though showing it she wasn't dangerous.

"You're just a little spooked, aren't you?" She whispered, walking slowly over to it. The creature threw its head back and let out a long, mournful cry that made everyone's heart lurch.

Abby walked forward as well, in the same way that Anomaly was. "It's ok." She whispered. "We won't hurt you…"

Connor came out in wide-eyed wonder. "Oh. Cool!"

Anomaly rolled her eyes and gently touched the creature's side. Its slick, rubbery skin glistened in the sunlight. "Nortalio. Itornak…" She whispered.

The creature's neck swung down to face her, its head looking out of place on such a huge body. It let out a small groaning noise and nudged her gently.

"Yeah…" Anomaly said, smiling. "You recognize this, don't you?" She gently brushed the blue pattern above her eye. "It sings to you, doesn't it?"

The creature murmured something, softly groaning as it rubbed its head against her.

Connor stepped forward, the flashlight he'd brought ahead of him like it would do him some good it the creature turned hostile. "Is this what I think it is?"

Anomaly smiled. "Nessie." She replied, turning to him. "But this one's not a girl."

Connor's eye looked like they would pop out of his head. "No. Way."

Abby looked at him. "And you thought they were all dead."

"Well they are, mostly." Anomaly said, gently stroking the creature's head. "You think they're myth, or extinct, but about a century from now, they're proved to be real; and very much alive."

Abby looked at her. "Seriously?"

Anomaly nodded. "The problem is, they're almost extinct. It becomes practically a sport to hunt them." Anomaly spat the words out; furious at the people who would dare do such a thing. "Animals." She snarled.

Abby looked at the creature, stroking its side softly. "Weren't there laws against that? If they're almost extinct…"

"Yes." She spat. "Yes, there were laws. But it was the ultimate test, wasn't it? See if you're a REAL man, see if you can kill a Loch!" She snarled. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Yes." She whispered. "There were laws. But people didn't care." She looked at the creature. "Loch Ness Monsters were the inspiration for the empathic qualities of the Florlics."

The winged dogs behind her seemed to nod in agreement.

"They can feel emotions." Anomaly continued. "That's why they were able to keep hidden all these years. And why people wanted to hunt them. Because… well… because when they died, they sent out a mixture of fear, horror, hate, sadness… everything a person hates. When a Loch Ness Monster is scared, it does the same thing. It was a test. 'If you're a real man, you'll be able to kill a Loch Ness Monster before the emotions kill you.'"

Abby and Connor listened to her explanation in stunned silence.

Anomaly sighed and composed herself. "I'm sorry." She said. "I just have a problem with people who kill empathetic creatures." She sighed. "My own people had a problem with THAT one." She snarled.

There was silence for a moment as Anomaly tried to keep her anger in control.

Finally, she smiled. "So. How are we gonna get this guy to go back through the anomaly?"

* * *

When Cutter and Steven caught up with them, Abby explained everything.

"It's a fairly simple idea." Anomaly was explaining. "Nessies are empathic, correct? So, he should be able to know what we're thinking. Or…feeling. So, if everyone thinks the same thing at the same time, he should pick it up. Especially with the Florlics helping."

The Loch Ness Monster bent its enormous neck, bringing its head to face her. It moaned softly.

Tears formed in Anomaly's eyes. "Nortalia fornallow." She breathed. "Norflika tornano."

The creature moaned again. It was a soft, mournful cry. A tear streaked down Anomaly's cheek. "Itara, itara."

She turned to the others. "He says no."

Everyone looked at her.

"No?" Steven asked. "What do you mean, no?"

"Exactly that." Anomaly's eyes darted towards the gun in Steven's hands. She had always been wary of that. He never let it go.

"Why not?" Steven demanded.

The Loch Ness Monster turned to him, its midnight black eyes locked on his. This was a sort of creature who was more intelligent then it looked.

"There's something worse on the other side." Anomaly responded. Her bright, metallic blue eyes were locked on the anomaly. "Itstaria."

Abby walked over to her. "What do you mean, worse?" She gently stroked the creature's side. It moaned softly.

But Anomaly wasn't listening. She walked towards the anomaly, and, without warning, walked straight through it.

On the other side of the anomaly, something happened that she didn't expect.

"Nortalio!" She screeched. Fury, rage, pain, and hate washed through her.

"Orfirika!" The man responded. A bright blue pattern decorated his arm.

"Nierta." She spat.

The man stared at her with wide eyes. There was a knife in his hands, a silver blade with a jeweled handle.

"I expected this from the others." She said in her native language. "But never you."

"You know nothing." He spat, also in her language. "You never have." He looked into her eyes. "Why can't you see? Why can't you see that this is the way of the world?"

"Because it's NOT!" She spat.

"Please…"

"DON'T. Say. My. Name." Anomaly interrupted him. "Never again."

He looked at her, his eyes wide. "You would reject everything you are?"

"I would reject everything you MADE me!" She screeched.

She looked at the second anomaly, only a small distance away from the one she'd just entered. "Go back where you came." She snarled. "Or I'll force you there myself."

The man shook his head. "The others will be interested to learn what has become of the Rouge Child." He sighed. "You had so much…Potential."

"Potential which can only bring death." She spat. "I don't need you. Any of you."

He shook his head again. "Such a pity." He looked at her, then at the anomaly. Slowly, he walked over to it. Just before he entered, he turned to face her. "I'll be sure to tell Sam, shall I?"

Anomaly screeched, an inhuman screech that showed nothing but pain. She charged at the man, but it was too late. He took a step backwards, and the anomaly closed behind him.

Anomaly collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Pain, pure and absolute, coursed through her. "Sam." She whispered. "Oh…Sam…"

* * *

On the other side of the anomaly, the team was staring in astonishment. Anomaly had simply… walked through. No backup, no idea where or when it opened up to. She'd just gone in, potentially endangering her life.

"She's gonna hear about that one." Connor mumbled. "Lester is not going to be happy."

After another moment, Anomaly came through. Her eyes were bloodshot, and rimmed with red. She said nothing to the others, instead walking over to the Loch Ness Monster.

"You're safe now." She whispered. "The danger's gone. You're safe." She gently stroked the creature's side.

Physically, Anomaly looked fine. But there was no one in the world who wouldn't say she was in pain. The creature seemed to know something. Its eyes locked on hers, the perfect picture of gratitude.

Slowly, it turned around, and walked through the anomaly.

Anomaly stared at it for a long time. No one said anything, afraid of what might happen if they shattered the silence.

Finally, she turned around and faced the others. "We need to get this closed." She looked around. "Any ideas?"

Everyone shook their heads or muttered something about how it was impossible.

"Didn't you close the last one?" Connor asked. "You think you could do it again?"

Anomaly shook her head. "No." She looked at the anomaly. "I mean, I can feel it, so someone in my family might…" She looked down. "I couldn't. But…" She swallowed, and looked up, trying to hold back the tears. "My brother could have done it. But I can't."

She blinked back tears, sighed, and turned to face them.

Cutter took control. "Right." He said. "So we need to have someone guard this. If anything comes out, shoot it."

"Tranquilizers only." Anomaly said, her eyes locked on Cutter, furious flames burning behind them. "No bullets."

No one argued with that. They called Lester, who agreed to position guards in the area. Anomaly ran to the car, and the others caught up with her about ten minutes later.

Abby sat next to Anomaly this time. "I didn't know you had a brother." She said.

Anomaly nodded and turned to face the window. Tears formed in her eyes, unseen by the others and unbidden by her. When she spoke again, her voice cracked.

"His name was Sam."


	7. Secrets and Nightmares

_Silence. Darkness. No one says anything. They know what's happening. _

_ Walking. Always moving forward, never looking back. I can't stand to look back. If I do, I'll see how many people hate me. So I keep moving forward. I have to._

_ We all knew this day was coming. I knew it. I'm not afraid. I'm ready. I've been ready for a long time._

_ He doesn't have to look so smug about it. He knows I'm going to be gone forever, and he couldn't be happier. Let him have his joy. _

_ Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah. Get to the point. I'm a disease. I have to be thrown out. We've heard the speech. Get on with it. _

_ The council will vote now. The council's always voting. They never make the right decisions. They have to go by the laws. They have to follow the rules. They never listen to their heart. Heck, they don't even listen to their brains. They just follow that book. And the book says I'm a disease._

_ I know the decision has to be made. I know what their vote will be. I've always known. _

_ Even if they did listen to their brains, it wouldn't matter. Everyone wants me gone. Fine. I can handle that. I expect no less. It's who I am._

_ "I always knew you were cruel, sir. But I never knew you were this cruel."_

_The words come out before I can stop them. I won't take them back. I'll never take them back. That's probably part of the reason I'm here in the first place. But it doesn't matter. Those words are truth, nothing more, nothing less._

"_I called you cruel, sir. Is there an explanation for that?"_

_You didn't want an explanation, like you asked. You wanted me to jump further into my own noose. You wanted me to say something that will make everyone hate me. To make you seem less like the monsters you are. To shove the blame on me. So I do what you want. I don't care. I've always been the monster._

_I still believe you to be the greater monster, though. I don't mind you doing something horrible to me. But don't do this to him…_

_He's torn. He has to make the decision. It's all down to him. One word, and this could disappear, at least for a while. I could stay here, and I wouldn't have to go through this. All he would have to say is one word…_

_But you want him to say that one word, don't you sir? You want him to show weather his loyalties lie with me, or with his city. _

_I know what decision he'll make. I know what's going to happen. I know what one word he'll say. And it won't be good for me._

"_I said I knew you were cruel, sir. I never said what a monster I believe you to be." _

_Why not keep going? Everyone hates me anyway. And I'm all right with that. So I tell him what I think._

"_You are unspeakable, sir. To me, your very name is forever a horror. Forever a crime. Because you would be so horrible, so low-down, as to make the last person decide. To make sure that I know who made this decision against me. To make sure that I knew HIS decision, sir."_

_I look into his eyes. Everyone has always said his eyes were… beautiful. Deep. Bright with happiness and youth. _

_I see horror. I see darkness. I see despair. I see insanity._

_I see death._

"_I say that you are the lowest of the low, sir. Not me. But what do you care? The people see me as the monster now, sir. Not you. You deflect their natural anger towards you onto me."_

_It's true. But what do I care? It's happened all my life. I'm used to people hating me. I've come to expect it from people._

_The decision has been made. I hear the votes of the last council member. That's always the way. I know which is the last vote, because it makes the final decision. _

_He stands up. He looks down on the people, looking at them with his nose in the air so much that it makes me sick. How can these people not be infuriated? I know I am._

_He addresses me, addresses everyone, and says a long, boring speech that is the only one I will remember for the rest of my life._

"_Before us today, we have a case that is long…overdue."_

_You can say that again._

_He continues. "And the decision has been made. Her… crimes are too great. Her own words before this council speak for themselves. Her manner, her outright disrespect for our way of life has gone on far too long already. We wish there was another way…"_

_No you don't. _

"_But unfortunately, there isn't. Our attempts to control and eliminate this behavior have been… ignored. Destroyed, even. So much so that we have no other choice."_

_There's plenty of choice. You just want to make me the monster. And I'm ok with that._

"_Therefore, we can do nothing else for you." _

_Oh, so now he's speaking to me, and not just about me. That's refreshing. _

"_I regret to inform you of the council's decision"._

_No you don't._

"_They find you guilty, and sentence you to banishment from this city."_

_ I expected nothing less._

_ "You are never to return. If you do, we will have no other choice but to terminate your existence."_

_ That's the nice way of saying 'you come back and we kill you.'_

_ "We will give you the essentials for survival."_

_ Yeah. A knife, a saucepan, an old microchip, and some food. What about my Florlics, beef brain?_

_ "As your Florlics are empathetically attached to you, and are necessary for survival, you will be allowed to keep them."_

_ You read my mind. Don't do that._

_ "No one in this city is to assist you outside of these walls. You are to have no contact with the others. Anyone caught assisting you with anything will face the same punishment."_

_ Like they would anyway. I'm used to being hated._

_ "If there are any others who were banished before you, and are still alive, you may speak to them."_

_ Like you could stop me if I wanted to anyway. _

_ "And, from this day forth, your name will be changed. You may keep your old name, because it is a part of you. However, your new name shall be the one that will be used. Your old one shall be kept for yourself, in private. Only those high in rank may use it if they encounter you outside of these walls."_

_ Here we go with the names again. Names are so important to you._

_ "From this day forward, you shall be known as 'Rouge Child.' It seems… appropriate."_

_ Rouge Child. I like it. Believe it or not, I like it. Better then the one I had before._

_ "Now." He stacks papers on his desk. It looks very official, but I know that it's planned. "You are to leave here. And never return."_

_ There's the general mutterings from the crowd, and I'm pushed along, people adding things to my survival kit as they lead me to the door. The very heavy wooden door, which will be locked as soon as I'm gone. They can't get me out fast enough._

_ The hand me my survival equipment. My Florlics are at my side. They growl at anyone who gets too close. I sling the bag over my shoulder and attach the knife to my belt. They gave me an old cell phone instead of a microchip. There must have been a few strings pulled for that one. I stick it in my pocket and attach to it. That's my lifeline now. _

_ I start to walk to the door, and the crowd gives me some space. I've always known it would happen. I've been ready for a long time._

_ I promised myself I wouldn't look back, but I realize now that it wouldn't be fair to my parents. So I look back for them. They're standing there, watching me go. My mom is crying. My dad is smiling. He wanted me gone too. But for different reasons then the rest of the crowd._

_ I'm glad my dad is smiling. He's always known I wouldn't be happy here. So he's happy for me. _

_ I start to turn around, to look ahead again, realizing that it wasn't so hard to look back. Now I can look ahead again, and I'm still not scared. _

_ But then I see him, and everything changes._

_ The one person in the city who didn't care what was wrong with me, besides my parents. The only person here who isn't smiling that isn't my mom. The only person here who isn't smiling or crying. _

_ His blonde hair falls in his eyes again. His eyes look exactly like mine. Bright, metallic blue. He has an almost identical pattern, almost exactly the same as mine. It surrounds his eye. The only difference is the small blue circle under it._

_ My brother. Sam._

_ He doesn't cry. He doesn't get mad. He doesn't smile. He doesn't wave._

_ And I don't forgive him. _

_ I turn back to the vast emptiness in front of me, the dark space, the cold desert. I'm almost at the door. _

_ When I get there, I place a hand on the door frame. I look down, and think of Sam's face. _

_ I think of his face, and it makes me turn around._

_ The words are out before I can stop them, before I can make sense of what I'm promising. But when they come out, I know that I'll keep my promise to them. _

_ I look at the faces in the crowd, and promise them. "I'll be back."_

_ And I keep going._

_ "I'll be back one day. You'll see. I'll come through these walls." My eyes are hard and determined as I look at them. "But I won't come back for you. I won't come back to stay here, to prove you all wrong. I'll come back to show you that I am exactly what you think me to be. And I'm going to show you that there is a better life out there. I'm going to show you that I can live outside of your false rules. That there's more to life then that pack of lies you call a law book."_

_ I look at the sky. "I am the Rouge Child!" I call out to the stars. "And I will come back some day! And then the stars themselves will remember my promise!"_

_ I look back at them. "I will be back." _

_ And then I turn around. I don't look back._

_ The Florlics howl in triumph. They feel my emotions, and experience them as well. I am not alone in this fight._

_ And, from this day forward, I am the Rouge Child._

* * *

_ Two days after I was banished, I had my first encounter with a Predator. _

_ I've fought them before. It isn't too hard, so long as they don't have the element of surprise._

_ But the problem is, gaining the element of surprise is what they do best._

_ I didn't see the dark, grey shape until it was almost on top of me. The Florlics were a while away, so they hadn't been able to warn me. They could have barked, or growled or given some sign, but they weren't here. _

_ When I saw the creature, it was just above me, ready to fall. I dropped to the ground, lying on my back, and then rolled. It landed in the spot where I was. It clicked and screeched, annoyed._

_ I was up and on my feet in two seconds, the knife in my hand. Like it would do any good. So, I made it better. Electricity danced up from my hand and laced the blade._

_ "Come and get me." I hissed._

_ The Predator seemed to have no choice. Obviously, I was the first living creature it had seen in days. It must have been starving._

_ Which wasn't very good for me._

_ But it was finished surprisingly quickly. The Predator was weak, exhausted. It charged at me, and I dodged, slashing out with the knife. It screeched, and charged again._

_ We repeated this, over and over until it looked like a complicated dance. Finally, it was too tired to go on, collapsing into the dirt._

_ I finished it quickly. I don't like seeing something suffer. It went with dignity._

_ But it didn't go before giving me the worst wound I'd gotten in my life._

_ The three claw marks ran from the back of my shoulder, down the top of my arm, and down to the top of my hand. When the fight was over, I collapsed to the ground as well, screaming in pain._

_ It wasn't too long before my Florlics found me. They felt my pain. They brought me my survival kit, and I bandaged my arm._

_ For the first time, I had a real brush with death. And, for the first time, I realized just how alone I was. There was no one who could help me if I got really hurt. And that night, I screamed with the pain. The pain of my wound, the pain of being alone._

_ And the worst pain of all. The stinging pain of betrayal, hot and strong, coursing through me with its own venom. _

_ There is no pain like the pain of betrayal. I know it well. It was caused by the council member, the man I refuse to name, calling him only 'sir.' It was a pain caused by him, because he made me know the last council member's decision. He made me listen as the last council member condemned me to be banished, thrown out of the city._

_ It was a pain that I was all too familiar with. Because the last council member was someone I loved. Someone I would never forgive._

_ My brother. Sam._

* * *

Anomaly woke up, screaming.

She sat, bolt upright in bed, panting. Connor was standing in the doorway.

"Bad dreams?" he asked.

Anomaly nodded slowly, then pulled herself out of the bed.

Connor moved to the side as she walked out the door, aiming for the bathroom, probably to splash cold water in her face, like she always did.

Connor went back to work. A whole week had passed since he'd first met her, and by now Anomaly had practically moved into the ARC, sleeping there with her Florlics at her feet. Someone would always try to wake her up in the morning, but normally she would wake herself up, screaming and panting. She'd been there for seven nights and not one of them had passed without a bad dream. Anomaly was a person with secrets. Secrets and nightmares.

When Anomaly came out of the bathroom, she looked like a new person. She was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and, without the eye pattern, could have easily passed off for a normal teenage girl. She smiled. "Anything new?"

Connor shrugged. "Not really. I'm recalibrating the ADD today. Hope there's no anomaly alerts while I'm doing it."

Anomaly smiled. "I'll keep an eye out for them." Suddenly, she stopped cold. "Recalibrating? What do you mean?"

"Well… Basically, I'm going to reboot the whole system." Connor liked Anomaly. She'd listen to his long speeches of techno-babble for hours on end, and enjoy every second of it. But today he wasn't really in the mood for talking.

"You're not going to change the base codes, are you?" Anomaly asked, worried. "Like, no messing around with the wires? No changing anything about the actual computer, just rebooting the system?"

"Yeah, basically." He looked at her. "Why?"

Anomaly smiled. "No reason. I just don't want to end up dead on the floor." She said it in a completely cheerful tone, so Connor almost missed it.

"Ok." He said. Then he realized. "Wait, what?"

But Anomaly was already almost out the door. "See you in a bit!" She walked out.

Connor stared, confused. Finally, he gave up trying to understand and turned back to the ADD.

Anomaly smiled at Lester. "Good morning."

Lester's eyes narrowed. Anomaly had taken it upon herself to make his life as miserable as possible. "I'm not going to find my desk booby trapped today, am I?"

Anomaly's smile widened as she kept walking. "You're good!" She called to him.

Lester shook his head and kept walking.

Anomaly entered the room where Cutter was working. "Hello!" She called.

Cutter smiled. "So, what DID you do to Lester today?"

"Booby trapped his chair." She shrugged. "When he sits down an alarm will go off." She smiled. "I was bored. Couldn't think of anything better."

Cutter smiled and looked back at his papers.

"You really shouldn't do that." Steven said, walking into the room.

"I shouldn't." Anomaly agreed, jumping up so she could sit on the corner of Cutter's desk. "But I've always had a problem with authority."

Steven looked at her, sighed, then turned back to the papers in his hands. He gave them to Cutter. "Here." He said. Abby had some research she wanted me to give you.

Cutter took it, and Anomaly smiled. "Research is BORING." She said matter-of-factly.

"It can save your life." Cutter replied, raising an eyebrow.

Anomaly shrugged. "So can shoes, but you don't see me going on about them."

Steven looked at her. "Shoes?"

Anomaly shrugged again. "Really big shoes, aimed at someone's head."

Cutter chuckled. Steven just stared.

"Hey guys." Abby said, entering the room. "What's up?"

Anomaly smiled. "It's getting crowded in here."

Abby smiled as well. "Oh, good, you're here. I need you to come look at something for me."

Anomaly smiled. "Sure thing." She jumped off the desk and followed her.

The plant lab was an amazing place. Hundreds of different plant species, all growing in this one room.

"What do you think?" Abby asked, holding one up for Anomaly to see.

Anomaly reached out and gently took it from her hands, then held it up against the light. "I think it needs just a little more water." She said, pinching a leaf with a few brown edges. "This kind of plant doesn't do well in these climates." She shrugged. "Maybe bring the temperature down a few degrees."

Abby smiled. "Thanks."

Anomaly nodded, smiling as well, then handed her the plant.

As Abby's hands touched the dirt around the plant's roots, she noticed something she never had before. "Oh." She said.

She tried not to stare, but couldn't help it. The three scars started at Anomaly's hand, but ran upwards, all the way up her arm and disappearing underneath her sleeve. She looked at Anomaly, concerned. "What happened?"

Anomaly looked at the scars. It brought old wounds to the surface. She kept her eyes on them.

"An accident." She replied simply.

Anomaly really was a person with secrets.

Secrets and nightmares.


	8. Secrets Revealed

Anomaly walked up to the ADD. It was one in the morning, and everyone else was at home, asleep.

But she couldn't sleep. Not without the nightmares returning. She'd managed to keep almost everyone in the dark about her past. She simply didn't want to remember it.

She sighed. There were so many secrets surrounding her. She just wished she could forget it. Everything.

Her ears pricked, and she looked around. "I know you're there. Come out."

Cutter stepped out of the shadows. "I forgot something."

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "And you decided to come back for it at one in the morning." She said sarcastically.

Cutter smiled. "It was important."

Anomaly looked at him. "I'm sure." Sarcasm still dripped in her voice.

Cutter chuckled darkly. "I just…" He looked down. "I wanted to know."

Anomaly nodded slowly. She sat down on the floor, and motioned for Cutter to do the same. He considered, then followed her example.

She took a deep breath. "I knew this would come up eventually." She sighed. "All right. What do you want to know?"

Cutter looked at her. "How do you know Claudia?"

Anomaly smiled humorlessly. "I figured as much." She looked away, her gaze distant. "Claudia Brown. Worked in a place called the Home Office. Studied rifts in times known as anomalies." She looked at Cutter. "She no longer exists."

Cutter nodded slowly, and waited for her to continue.

Her eyes locked on his. "Time is a funny thing, Cutter. A raptor getting its head cut off when an anomaly closes on it is enough to bring a person back, though under a different name and life experience." Her eyes were distant. "We called the phenomenon Tolio Terria. In your language, Time Swap. It was what happened when something in the past was changed." She shrugged. "But, like I said. Time is a funny thing."

She took a deep breath and began again. "There is another phenomenon, known as Norfalia Tortalis. It quite literally means 'Bounce Back.' It is a rebound effect that time uses to heal itself." She sighed. "So, something happens, and Claudia disappears, and reappears as Jenny. That's Tolio Terria. Time Swap. A change in the pattern of time itself."

She looked at him. "But the other phenomenon, Norfalia Tortalis. When Claudia disappeared, time was trying to fix things. So it did, taking Claudia out of the equation. But what do you have to do to take something out of one side of the equation?"

Cutter thought for a moment. "You add it to the other side."

Anomaly nodded. "Exactly. But time is a little different from an equation. So when Claudia disappeared here…"

"She reappeared in your time." Cutter said, realization making his eyes light up.

"Precisely. I met Claudia in my time when time tried to repair itself. It sent Claudia Brown to my time, for what would be a split second for time itself, but months upon months for us."

She swallowed and looked down. "Claudia was the reason I chose The Guard in the first place. I needed a new Florlic, and he was… well, the worst of the worst. The weakling." Anomaly swallowed again. "That was considered the worst thing in the world, being weak. You had to be the strongest. You had to have the strongest Florlics and there was no way anyone would choose a weak one. Claudia convinced me to choose him." She chuckled darkly. "She gave me the name. And she's also part of the reason I know some English." She shrugged. "We had to teach it to her. She picked it up, for the most part."

She swallowed again and looked down. "And then, one day, she disappeared. No one knew where she went. One moment she was there, the next, gone." A tear formed in her eye.

Cutter looked at her. "And… she's gone?"

Anomaly looked at him. "I'm sorry, Cutter. She can't come back. There's no way."

Cutter looked down. He said nothing to her, and for a long time there was silence.

* * *

Neither Cutter nor Anomaly said anything to the others the next day about their conversation. The day passed like it normally did. Anomaly woke up screaming, the dreams haunting her like they always did. Connor talked about random techno-babble, Abby and Steven got into a fight about shooting creatures, and everyone acted like they always did. Only Cutter and Anomaly remembered.

And they kept it secret. They would always keep it secret.

* * *

_Shadow and flame and ice and wind and everything this place has made me. I am the Rouge Child. But maybe I'm more then that._

_ I've been out here so long, in the cold and the sand and the desert and the flames that refuse to burn. The fire burns in its blue-green light, the cold flames flicking towards the night sky. Towards the stars. Towards my promise._

_ Maybe I should give up. Perhaps that promise was truly impossible._

_ But then I remember Sam, and I will never let that promise die._

_ Ikesa nudges my hand. He's scared, too. He whimpers. There's nothing around us for as far as the eye can see. I don't like being out in the open. It leaves you venerable to attack. Attack from Predators, from Terlanians, from all sorts of creatures that prefer the night._

_ The Guard looks at me. The Florlic's eyes glow a soft green in the darkness, reflecting the small amount of light coming from the blue-green fire._

_ "Rouge Child." The words come from the darkness. The Florlics sit up and whine._

_ I turn my head. He's a tall man, and I recognize him. And the pattern decorating his arm. It's not a common thing to have the largest pattern on your arm. He is a person of high rank; my false name doesn't really matter._

_ But then again, he's always hated me. He'd probably prefer to use my new name. Rouge Child. It fits._

_ He smiles, and I see what's in his hand. An empathic eliminator. It makes a person invisible to Florlics, eliminating their empathic abilities for the person holding it. _

_ It's also illegal in every civilized city._

_ But then again, they never have been very… civilized._

_ He sighs and sits down next to me. My Florlics whine, unused to being without their empathic abilities. \_

_ "I was out searching for Predators." He says. He is allowed to speak to me, being of high rank. But he can not help me. I wouldn't expect him to. "I didn't expect to find you."_

_ I say nothing. I don't want to talk to this man. I have no reason to._

_ He looks at me. "I didn't particularly want to make the decision, Rouge Child. But it had to be made."_

_ "You did want it." I hiss. "Everyone wanted it."_

_ He shakes his head slowly. "No… Not everyone." His eyes lock on mine. "Sam wants you to know he's sorry. But he can't tell you himself."_

_ The name of my brother brings the old wound to the surface, and I blink back tears. I will not let this man see me cry. I will not be weak in front of him. _

_ He looks at me for a long moment, then stands up. "It is good to see that you are managing well. I'll tell the others, shall I?"_

_ I swallow and nod slowly. He turns around and starts to walk away. _

_ "Tell Sam." I say, and he turns to face me. "Tell Sam I don't forgive him." My eyes lock on his. "Tell him I will never forgive him."_

_ He nods slowly, then disappears into the darkness._

_ The Guard whimpers and lays his head on my knee. Not for the first time, I wish the person who helped me choose him was here. She would know what to do. She always did._

_ The old song comes to my mind, one I've known for as long as I can remember. It seems appropriate. I can hear my own voice, sounding out the tune. Out here, there is no sound more haunting, lonelier then the sound of someone singing._

_ "When summer days,_

_ And skies of blue,_

_ Give away their shine._

_ When time itself will hold its breath,_

_ And the world will fall down._

_ When darkness comes, and flames of green,_

_ Will dance upon the land._

_ Then you will know, then you will see._

_ My hour is at hand._

_ The world will fall, the sky will break, _

_ But I'll still be there for you._

_ When the skies have fallen,_

_ When the world has cracked in two,_

_ You'll look to your left, you'll look to your right._

_ And I'll be there with you._

_ But when the crowd has had enough, _

_ And spits its hate at you,_

_ Then I will fall,_

_ Then I will flee,_

_ And then I will leave you._

_ For I can face the falling world._

_ I can face the burning flame._

_ But what I can't face, and never will,_

_ Is the horror of the pain._

_ I can not help you against the crowd,_

_ When everyone hates you. _

_ I can not say a gentle word,_

_ For fear they will hate me too._

_ I will run, and I will hide, _

_ And I won't face you._

_ Because it's the crowd, the horrible crowd,_

_ The people that hate you._

_ I can face ocean and burning flame,_

_ I can face the end of time itself._

_ But what I can never face, is what I've done to you."_

_ I take a deep breath. The tears can not be stopped as they pour down my face. I'm scared. I'm so scared. _

_ But more then that. I'm furious. I'm hurt. _

_ And it's all because of Sam._

_ And I make my decision. I won't be scared. I won't be sad._

_ I pick up everything. The Florlics growl, surprised by my chance in mood. But they will follow me. They always do._

_ And then I run. I've never run faster. The area around me is a blur. And I know where I'm going._

_ I'm going to find my brother._

* * *

_When I reach the walls, I climb them quickly. They're built to keep Predators out. Not people. _

_I search and search until I find the house I know to be his. I walk up to it, and open the door._

_He's lying there, asleep. I walk over to him, and shake him awake. I'm his sister. I can do that._

_He wakes up, and sees my face. He backs against the wall. His eyes are wide. _

"_Rouge Child!" He breathes. "You're not supposed to be here."_

_I roll my eyes. "I'm not supposed to do a lot of things, Sam. I'm not supposed to scream like crazy and wake everyone up and make them think you're keeping me here against every rule." I glare at him. "But I'm going to."_

_Sam's eyes go huge. "Rouge… No!" He whispers, shortening my name. "Please!"_

_My eyes narrow. "I won't." I look at him, disgusted. "But only because I have a promise to keep."_

_He looks relieved. "Thank you." He looks at me. "Rouge… About what happened…"_

_I look at him, waiting for him to continue. This should be good. _

"_I'm so sorry! Please! I'll do anything to prove it…"_

"_You just did." I snarl, interrupting him. "You proved to me everything I needed to know." I bend down on one knee so that I'm at eye level with him. "And that is why I don't forgive you, Sam. Because, even now, you choose this city over me." I can't disguise the fury in my voice. Nor can I hide the pain that's seeping through me, controlling everything I am. _

"_Rouge…" He looks at me. "Please. I'm really sorry. I'd do anything…"_

"_Really?" I ask. "Then come with me."_

_He looks at me, his eyes wide. _

"_Come with me!" I demand. "Become like me. An outcast."_

"_Rouge… I can't do that…"_

"_Exactly." I spit out the words. "Because you don't care. You didn't care then, and you don't care now. And that's why, Sam. That's why I will never forgive you." I glare at him. "Never."_

_He looks at me, but says nothing as I leave, running out of the house in a blur. The tears won't stop now. I can't restrain them. They flow down my cheeks in their own personal waterfall._

_I have nothing left. My own brother has betrayed me. _

* * *

It was three in the morning when Anomaly woke up, screaming.

Tears streaked down her face. "Sam…" She breathed. "Oh…Sam…"


	9. Nightmares Come True

**A/N: Sorry the chapter's so short. Had to end it where I did. The next one should be longer. :) **

Anomaly knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. She sat up, and ran out of the ARC. Her legs couldn't seem to move fast enough.

She ran for about twenty minutes, then stopped abruptly at the sight in front of her. Couldn't she get some rest? And why hadn't the ADD picked up the anomaly in front of her?

She sighed. Maybe this was just the distraction she needed. She ran through the anomaly.

She saw them all, standing there as though she was nothing but a nuisance. She stopped, and her blood ran cold.

"I took the liberty of opening an anomaly to the time you're inhabiting." He said, speaking her native language.

"Can't you leave me alone for one minute?" She snarled in reply. Her eyes darted to his arm, where the pattern decorated it.

He shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Rouge Child…"

"No you're not." She spat out the words before she could stop them, interrupting him mid-sentence.

He ignored her outburst. "But I needed to inform the council of your… decision… to move to a different time."

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "What does the council care of my decisions? It rejected me before, why won't it now?"

"Yes. Well…" He spoke for the first time since his final speech to her. The man Anomaly would only call 'Sir.' "I'm afraid this council doesn't think your decision was wise."

"What decision of mine has the council ever thought to be 'wise?' If I recall, that's why I was banished in the first place." Her eyes locked on his, the perfect picture of hate. "Sir."

He smiled coldly. "Ah, yes…"

"Don't!" Anomaly snarled. "Don't. Say. My. Name."

The man's eyes widened. "You… reject your own name?"

Anomaly glared at him. "I will never again allow my name to be used. Rouge Child. That's who I am." She chuckled darkly. "Though… That isn't my name anymore." Her eyes locked on his.

He looked at her, stunned. "You are rejecting everything you are. What would drive you to such… madness?"

Anomaly raised an eyebrow, smiling darkly. "It may be madness, sir, but it's my madness."

He shook his head. "And what name do you have now, that it seems has come with your new time?"

Anomaly raised her head defiantly. "Anomaly." She replied in English.

The man laughed. "Is that a name? Or are you sneezing?"

Anomaly glared at him, hate in her eyes. "It's my name, sir. In the language of my new time. I chose it myself." She smiled coldly. "I would have been disappointed if you liked it."

He bristled, looking at her with newfound hatred. "Watch your tongue, Rouge Child! You are still speaking to the council!"

"The council which I no longer follow!" Anomaly snarled. "You rejected me, SIR, and so I no longer need to follow your lies you call LAWS!"

The man came forward as though he would attack her, but the others held him back until he calmed down. Anomaly held her head high, forever defiant.

Finally, the man had calmed down enough to speak. "You would be wise to watch your words carefully. You don't know what trouble they may cause."

Anomaly smiled darkly. "But I am a monster, am I not? Is that not the name you give me? What does trouble matter to a person like me?"

"It matters." The man hissed. "And may very well matter to you now, Rouge Child. For we hold your life in our hands."

"No one holds anyone's life." Anomaly spat. "And you will never hold mine, SIR."

He glared at her. "And yet you may not leave here alive."

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "Watch me."

The man glared at her, then took a deep breath. "Rouge Child, your original crimes in the city were unspeakable. You have received your punishment for this. However, we would not have given you this punishment if we believed you would run to another time zone! The purpose of your banishment was to exclude you, and your dangerous habits, from any form of civilization!"

Anomaly smiled, her eyes cold. "Then I defeated that purpose, didn't I?"

The man glared at her. "Of course, that's why this council is meeting. We must devise a fitting punishment for this crime."

"What crime? Try as hard as you may, sir, but no one controls time. You cannot rule over every time zone. You have no jurisdiction in this area." Anomaly kept her eyes on his.

"Unfortunately for you, we do." He smiled smugly. "You are from our city, and, banished or not, we still control you."

Anomaly barked a laugh. "So there's really no way to win, is there? I finally get out of your trash heap city, and I'm still under your rule."

The man bristled. "Artalis is a grand place, Rouge Child. It has always been strong, since the beginning of time itself."

"Artalis is weak." Anomaly snarled. "The strength it believes to have has been gained at a price, SIR, and that price holds death in its path. That STRENGTH brings death and destruction to all areas of the world. It is an abomination, SIR. Nothing more."

"Artalis has never fallen, Rouge Child! Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe you have."

Again, Anomaly barked a laugh. "I don't see being banished from that TRASH HEAP as FALLING."

He snarled, and his knife was in his hand in the blink of an eye. "ARTALIS IS STRONG!"

"ARTALIS is an ABOMINATION!" Anomaly spat, her knife in her hand as well.

The others calmed down the council member. He glared at Anomaly, his eyes filled with hate and rage. He put the knife back into his belt.

Suddenly, he smiled coldly. "The council still has to make its decision, Rouge Child." He looked towards the others. "Everyone?"

The others, clearly some sort of bodyguards, moved to the side. There stood the council, the very people who had sentenced her to banishment, the very people who had taken everything from her. The very people who she had nightmares about.

The very PERSON she had nightmares about.

For there, with the others, was a young man with blonde hair, metallic blue eyes, and a pattern surrounding one eye, almost identical to hers. Sam.

Anomaly's breath caught in her throat.

The council member, the one she only called sir, smiled darkly. "You know the case before you. Please make your decisions."

The council members nodded and murmured, talking quietly amongst themselves.

Anomaly looked at the man she refused to name, and said the very words she'd said so long ago. "I always knew you were cruel, sir. But I never knew you were this cruel."

The man smiled, a dark, cruel smile. "Oh, Rouge Child. You continue to condemn yourself. When will you ever learn?"

Anomaly looked straight at him. "I take that back. I always knew you were this cruel. Since the day I was banished from Artalis."

He glared at her, his eyes glinting dangerously. "You should learn to watch your tongue."

Anomaly laughed darkly, and the man took an involuntary step back. Anomaly was a person who'd seen too much. That could add a darkness to a person that can never be controlled. "You are asking for the impossible, sir."

The man smiled, though slightly and visibly shaken. "We'll see."

He turned to the others. "You're votes?"

For the second time, they all said their votes. Again, only one person could stop this. Again, the last council member had control over Anomaly's situation.

And, again, that council member was torn with indecision.

Anomaly looked at her brother. She knew that the man she refused to name was responsible for him being the last council member, as he was responsible for it so long ago.

But that didn't stop the pain.

Sam couldn't look at his sister. He couldn't meet her gaze. He kept his eyes glued to the floor, as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. He breathed his answer, his voice cracking.

"Guilty."

Anomaly expected to feel pain. She expected to feel the sting of betrayal a second time. She expected it.

But she didn't expect how badly it would hurt.

Her breath caught in her throat, and the tears refused to be contained. They flowed down her cheek, unbidden. She didn't sob. She didn't collapse. She just stood there, the picture of calm. Her expression didn't change. All that changed was the tear streaking down her cheek.

She said nothing. The man she called 'sir' smiled cruelly.

"Rouge Child. You have been found guilty. Your sentence can only be one thing."

Anomaly knew the sentence before the word was spoken. She knew what it must be. Because she was a monster, and always had been.

The man took a deep breath, and spoke one word.

"Death."


	10. Frying Pan

**A/N: Please let me know if I get too graphic with my fight scenes. Thanks!**

Sam looked at the council member, his eyes wide.

_NO! _

It was the only thought on his mind. The only thought he could think.

He remembered the pain in his sister's face, so long ago, when she'd come into his house and asked him to come with her. To become an outcast.

He remembered that he'd caused that pain. He'd sentenced his own sister to banishment.

But now… he'd sentenced her… to DEATH?

It couldn't be. He couldn't have… but it was all too true.

He saw her snarl, defiant even now. A rebel to the last.

"And what makes you think I'm going to just stand here and let you try and kill me?" She spat. Her eyes were always so bright. But now he could see the pain behind them. Pain he'd caused.

He desperately wanted to talk to her; tell her he was sorry, that he didn't want to do this… But it was impossible.

The guards surrounding them pulled out their knives, advancing towards her. Her knife was in her hand before anyone could blink.

"Oh, Rouge Child." The council member smiled and shook his head. "What makes you think you can handle all of us?"

Sam saw his knife flash into his hand. He'd been wanting to hurt her the whole time. Now he might have his chance.

Rouge Child snarled, dodging and weaving. She'd gotten good at fighting. Well, she would. She'd battled Predators, for crying out loud!

Sam knew what he should do, and desperately wanted to do it. He wanted to change his vote, say that he believed her to be innocent. Better yet, he could get in between them and her, snarling and ready to defend his sister.

But… he'd worked so hard. He'd tried desperately to get this position on the council, and he'd succeeded. He'd worked to get his rank…

Despite everything, Sam wanted to laugh. Rank! What did it matter to him now? The council had made him vote against his own sister. Twice!

But… he couldn't give up everything he'd worked for…

So he decided. Rouge Child had always been a good fighter. He'd wait it out, and hope she made it out of there.

And then she looked at him, and his promise almost wavered. She looked… tortured. Her eyes were filled with nothing but pain. But she tried to cover it with her anger, the fight becoming a complicated and very lethal dance. She dodged and weaved with a surprising grace; something he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Such a pity…" The man next to him said. The pattern on his arm shone in the sunlight.

Sam swallowed. Kierto. That was the man's name. Rouge Child had always had a problem with him. Surprisingly, they'd been friends, before…

Sam found the day replaying in his memory. Rouge Child and Kierto had gone out to find a particularly nasty Predator. When they'd returned, Kierto's Florlic was limping, and Rouge Child was furious as all anything. Since then, they barely spoke to each other.

Sam looked at Rouge Child. He desperately wanted to help her. But… he'd only get caught in the crossfire. He couldn't do it. He had worked so hard…

* * *

Anomaly dodged, ducking down to avoid the slashing blade. Her own knife was electrified, and she stabbed upwards. She didn't really want anyone to die, but she had to defend herself.

She felt something slash into her. She cried out as the blade burned into her shoulder, going upwards on her neck and up to the bottom of her chin. She lashed out, punching whoever it was in the stomach. She felt it knock the breath out of him, and he reeled backwards.

The council member, the one she called 'sir', came into the fight, smiling cruelly and holding a knife, electrified like hers. She snarled, raising her knife high in the air and slashing down, dodging another blade.

She started to run. There were too many. She couldn't keep doing this…

Then she saw him. Her breath caught in her throat. Sam.

His face was torn with indecision. It didn't matter. She still couldn't forgive him. She would never forgive him.

She ran in front of the others. They looked at her. She held the perfect pose, the one that seemed to tell them she'd given up. She was panting, exhausted.

The man smiled. "Really, Rouge Child, I expected more. Giving up so quickly?"

Anomaly looked at him, her eyes narrowed and filled with hate. "Just make it quick. Sir." She spat out the name, blood going along with it.

He smiled. "No worries." He raised the knife up.

The blow never came. Anomaly struck him in the chest, and she heard the air rush out of him. She dropped down and kicked his legs out from under him. Wasting no time, she ran through the anomaly without looking back.

The council member looked at the others. "Don't just stand there!" He spat. "Stop her!"

Anomaly hated bringing her fight into this new time. She'd barely gained the trust of the others. Now she could end their lives.

She kept running. Despite how short their confrontation had seemed, hours had passed since she'd been in this time. Then again, time never made sense with anomalies around.

She heard them following. She kept going. She had to get to her Florlics. They could even the odds.

But even as she kept going, she knew it was pointless. They were going to catch up with her.

But still she kept going. What else was there?

And she made it to the ARC. The others had come in early. At least, that's how it seemed to her.

"Hey, Anomaly. Where have you bee…?" Cutter asked, before cutting off when he saw the blood pouring down her face.

"No time!" Anomaly kept running. She raced over to Lester. She grabbed him by the shoulders. "Do you have ANY kind of defenses? Anything at all?"

Lester looked at her, perplexed. "What are you talking about?"

"You are in a WAR ZONE!" Anomaly shrieked. There was no time for subtlety. "You need to get some MAJOR defenses out here!"

Lester took an involuntary step back. "Wh… what?"

Anomaly groaned. Her Florlics had come to her side, understanding the danger immediately.

Anomaly looked at the door. It was her only hope. She stared to run.

"Don't even think about it." The man snarled. He came towards her, knife in hand, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

Anomaly snarled, knife in hand. "You will not touch them."

"Too late." Someone else said from behind her. She whirled around. His knife was at Abby's throat. And, as she looked around, she found that was the case for almost everyone.

Anomaly swallowed. Things had gotten out of control way too fast. The Florlics growled.

"Far too late." The man said. "Such a pity."

"Kierto." Anomaly looked at him, her eyes cold. "Let them go. They have NOTHING to do with this!"

"But they have everything to do with it." Kierto replied, his bright green eyes locked on her. "You brought them into it, Rouge Child. Their very lives are affected because you came into their time zone."

Anomaly looked around her, at her friends, the people she cared about. All of them had knives to their throats. Connor was whimpering. Lester was arguing with them, indignant, as usual. Abby's eyes held a quiet fury that told Anomaly she would try and hurt the person behind her soon, but Anomaly knew it would be pointless. Her species of human was faster, more advanced than this one. Steven was trying to reach for a gun. Cutter was calm, simply assessing the situation with watchful eyes.

But they all had something in common. They were staring at Anomaly as thought it was her fault. And, in a way, it was.

"Put down the knife, Rouge Child." Kierto said. "And we'll let them go."

Anomaly could see that she had no choice. Defeated, she threw the knife down. "Tell Sam I hate him." She spat.

Kierto smiled coldly. "I will." He nodded towards the men, who lowered their knives. One of them ran and snatched up her knife, a blur as they took it from the ground.

Anomaly nodded towards the others, and they all looked at her. "What are you waiting for?" She asked. "Get out of here. All of you."

They all cast one last glance at her, before running out of the ARC.

Finally, Anomaly was alone with the others.

"Let's just get this over with." She spat.

Kierto smiled coldly and pulled his knife from his belt. "Of course."

As he came over to her, and raised the knife, Anomaly realized something. She was very lucky. Incredibly lucky, in fact. Because none of the guards were family. And she'd always know something, something the rest of the team could only guess at.

She knew that there was an anomaly that she could open, right here in the ARC.

Right where the others were standing.

She smiled darkly, and Kierto hesitated. It was a smile that said she was in control. A smile that said she knew more then she was saying. A smile anyone like him would fear.

She snarled, and put her hand out, held in a fist. When she opened it, light shone out of it. The light grew, and, in front of their eyes, an anomaly was born. Not just in front of them, but AROUND them. It was everywhere, it was so huge.

The light danced around Anomaly. The distortion shimmered and flickered. Kierto tried to raise his knife again, but it was far too late. Anomaly kicked him back through the distortion in the light, and suddenly, he was somewhere else.

He tried to get back, but it was too late. On the other side, Anomaly closed her hand into a fist again, and the anomaly started to close.

So Kierto did the only thing he could do. He threw the knife through the anomaly just before it closed.

Anomaly screeched in pain as the knife landed in her shoulder. She collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain.

She didn't know how long she lay there. She pulled the knife out from her shoulder, and her Florlics, who had understood what she wanted to do and stayed well away from where the anomaly formed, came over to her. Ikesa ran and brought her some bandages from her old survival kit.

When Anomaly came out of the ARC, she found the others standing outside. Her right shoulder was partially bandaged, but still covered in blood. Her face, neck, and shoulder on her left side were bleeding. Lester looked at her.

"You." He said, barking the words out and pointing a finger at her. "Have some explaining to do."

Anomaly nodded slowly.

"And I'm afraid we can't just let you tell us out of the goodness of your heart." He said, motioning for one of the guards to come over. The handcuffs were on Anomaly's wrists before anyone could blink. The guns were all trained on her.

She took a deep breath, and let it out in a sigh. "I suppose I deserve it." She said.

They all began to move back to the ARC. One thought was on Anomaly's mind.

_Out of the frying pan…_


	11. Fire

_… Into the fire._

Anomaly sighed, her hands cuffed behind her back. She was sitting down in the same chair she'd been sitting in only a week ago, when she'd first come into the ARC.

Lester was glaring at her. "Now. Explain."

Anomaly nodded slowly. Her right shoulder had been bandaged, and the gash on her left shoulder, her neck, and her chin, had been covered in white gauze. "I suppose I should…"

The guard behind her loaded his gun. She had a feeling that she'd end up with a bullet in her head today.

She took a deep breath. "I think I should start from the beginning, shall I?"

Lester looked at her, motioning for her to continue.

She nodded again. "Right." She took another deep breath, and began.

"A long time ago, in my time, I found out what made Artalis strong." She chuckled darkly. "Artalis was my city. The place I was born. But it was a weaker place then even I imagined."

She looked at him. "I told you I had a problem with authority. Well, I had it back then, too. But for different reasons."

She sighed. "You're not going to like what I have to tell you, Lester."

"Say it anyway." Lester ordered.

She sighed. "Lester, I'm… a criminal. I was banished from my own city."

Lester bristled, but said nothing.

Anomaly tried desperately to understand his expression. He was a man who was practically holding a gun to her head. If he decided he couldn't trust her…

She shivered and decided not to think about it. She looked at him. "At least, that's what Artalis called me. A criminal. But, actually, I'm more of a troublemaker. Not so extreme. I mean, I never killed anyone. I might have swiped a few things from people, but I always gave them back."

Lester glared at her. "I knew it."

He said the three words with triumph, and Anomaly almost broke the cuffs then and there. He looked too much like the council member, looking at her as though she was some… disease. She bristled.

She took a deep breath. "However, I found out that Artalis wasn't all it said it was." She looked down. "Lester, to me, the killing or torturing of an empathic animal is the worst crime in the world. Empaths are INCREDIBLY intelligent. But they rest their lives in other people's hands. Particularly the Florlics. Because dogs have always been loyal, correct?" She kept her eyes on the floor. "And Artalis was betraying that loyalty."

She sighed. "There was a man. Kierto. I'd always been… suspicious of him, but I never suspected…" She swallowed. "I think… I think I'm not being clear enough. Maybe… maybe I should just tell you what happened… when I found out what Artalis was doing…"

* * *

_Artalis gleamed in the distance. The girl who would become Rouge Child, and later Anomaly, jumped and skipped around, the perfect image of a little kid out for a treat. _

_ Kierto smiled. "You ready for this?"_

_ Anomaly (Or the girl who would become Anomaly) looked at him and smiled as well. "Definitely. I've been waiting for this for a LONG time."_

_ Kierto chuckled. "You know what to do, right?"_

_ Anomaly dropped into a fighting stance, a perfect defensive position. "Of course! What do you take me for, a weakling?"_

_ Kierto laughed. "All right, all right, calm down, young one. Predators aren't exactly friendly."_

_ Anomaly smiled, her teeth gleaming in the cold sunlight. "Right."_

_ And so it went. Kierto and Anomaly were tracking a particularly nasty predator, one that had been terrorizing the city for a long time now. Normally, they wouldn't even consider having a child fight a predator like this; certainly not one as young as her. But this was ANOMALY. She was practically famous for being a great fighter, and being able to run so fast she was nearly invisible. _

_ When they found the Predator, they had the cover of the trees to rely on. Kierto's three Florlics growled in the back of their throats, and Anomaly's two, Ikesa and Kesea, joined them. _

_ "Easy…" She whispered to them._

_ Kierto smiled. "Ready?"_

_ "All my life." She replied. _

_ There was absolute silence. The Predator never saw them coming, until they were right in front of it, knives in hand. _

_ The Predator screeched, a bloodcurdling sound that sent shivers down Anomaly's spine. Her eyes narrowed, taking in everything at once._

_ And that's when she saw it. Kierto's Florlic was too close. If it got hurt, things could head south real fast. Empathy was a powerful thing._

_ So, Anomaly did the one thing she could do. She lashed out at the Predator. Her eyes were bright._

_ "NO!" Kierto called. _

_ But it was too late. Anomaly had come this far, and couldn't give up now._

_ For a child, Anomaly was incredibly fast. Her movements went almost undetected by the Predator. It was clicking rapidly, trying desperately to find her location. And she stabbed the knife out, over and over, trying to finish this as quickly as possible. _

_ The Predator lashed out, catching both Anomaly and Kierto's Florlic in one blow. Anomaly flew into a tree. The Florlic just collapsed to the ground, whimpering. _

_ That was when Kierto acted, coming forward and finishing the job Anomaly started. The Predator fell to the ground, and Kierto pulled his knife from its throat._

_ He ran over to Anomaly, who was screaming from the Florlic's, and her own, pain. _

_ He pulled something out of his belt, something small and silver, and pressed a button on it. _

_ The Florlic's pain died from her mind, and there was only her own. Thankfully, that was somewhat manageable, so she calmed down after a few minutes, though the Florlic was still howling in pain._

_ "Are you ok?" Kierto asked her._

_ She nodded slowly, struggling to her feet. "Fine. Fine." She looked at him. "What about your Florlic?"_

_ "He'll be ok." Kierto promised, brushing her question off. "But, more importantly, you're safe. That's all that matters right now." He smiled. "What would your mother say if I brought you back injured? She'd murder me!"_

_ Anomaly looked at him. "Kierto, your Florlic is hurt." She walked over to the creature. _

_ She looked at it. The Florlic whimpered. _

_ "Why can't I feel it?" she asked. "His pain. I can't feel it."_

_ Kierto smiled and showed her the small silver device. "Empathic Eliminator. I'm not supposed to show anyone…" He looked at her. "But this is YOU. And I have high hopes for your future in our business." He smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up on the council."_

_ Anomaly looked at him. "My brother's dream, not mine." She looked at the eliminator. "Does it hurt him?"_

_ Kierto smiled. "Not at all. And it doesn't hurt us either."_

_ Anomaly looked back at the Florlic. "Well, whatever, we have to help him."_

* * *

"Is this relevant?" Lester asked Anomaly.

She eyed him coldly. "Absolutely, Lester. For if you are to know the criminal, you must know the motive." Her eyes locked on his. "And the crime."

Lester nodded slowly and motioned for her to continue.

* * *

_"Over here!" Kierto exclaimed. "We have a place where he can be treated."_

_ Anomaly followed him, his Florlic flying behind her._

_ When they reached the place, Anomaly ran her eyes over it. It was a large, metal building. Electric fencing surrounded it. _

_ Anomaly looked around. "What IS this place?"_

_ Kierto smiled. "This is top secret. And I shouldn't even be showing it to you." He turned to face her. "But I have a confession to make."_

_ She looked at him, her eyes wide and innocent. "What?"_

_ Kierto chuckled. "I want you to be my replacement."_

_ Her eyes widened even further. "Me? But… sir, I…"_

_ Kierto raised a hand. "Please. It's my honor. I believe you would fit my job perfectly, when you're older. You're fast and you're smart. You can make snap decisions with ease. These are traits you'll need, young one, if you are to take my place when you are older."_

_ Anomaly smiled nervously. "Sir, I can't…"_

_ Kierto looked at her, placing his hands on her shoulders and dropping down to eye level with her. "Please. I know it's a lot to ask, but I'm going to need someone there when I'm gone. Just look at what I do. Behind the council member, this is what I do. Please."_

_ Anomaly looked at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. She swallowed and nodded slowly. "Yes… sir…"_

_ He smiled and stood upright. "Good girl. And from now on, it's Kierto. No need for the 'sir.'" _

_ She nodded, swallowing again._

_ They entered the building. _

_ It was your typical medical-clinic type building. White walls and white floors and florescent lighting that made everything look worse then it was._

_ Which was hard to do, considering what was inside._

_ Anomaly followed Kierto through door after door. His pattern was clearance enough, and if he wanted to bring in a young girl, that was his choice. The guards bristled when they saw her, but when they saw her face they smiled. Anomaly guessed that they believed it was inevitable that she ended up here, perhaps a lot sooner than later. _

_ They walked in the door, and Anomaly's breath caught in her throat. _

_ There, in front of her, was a Loch Ness Monster. _

_ "Brace yourself." Kierto murmured. "This could be a shock."_

_ The Nessie was most defiantly a girl. Her eyes pled with the workers, but they paid no attention. One of them poked something into her skin, and she moaned, a long, depressed moan that made Anomaly's heart lurch. But no one else seemed to notice. _

_ "This is where we make the Empathic Eliminators." Kierto explained. "Unfortunately, we have to… experiment with the empathic creatures. It was difficult, at first, but then we created the Eliminator. Now, everything runs smoothly."_

_ The Nessie moaned again. Anomaly looked at it. It was obvious the Eliminators were in place, because Anomaly felt no emotions that were not her own. "THIS is smooth?"_

_ Kierto looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "I know it's a shock. But, believe me, it's for the better! Many people die as a result of Predator attacks when their Florlics are wounded."_

_ "Name one." _

_ "Norfalota." He replied. _

_ Anomaly froze. "Oh. Kierto, I'm so sorry."_

_ He waved a hand, as though brushing it aside. "It's quite all right, young one. My sister's death has helped me work through this all these years. Now people will not have to go through their Florlic's pain." He smiled. "Even better, we may be able to take their empathic abilities and use them ourselves."_

_ Anomaly bristled. "But what about the Florlics? What about this Loch Ness Monster? Aren't they in pain?"_

_ He nodded slowly. "Of course, Anomaly. But we will eliminate future pain."_

_ Anomaly looked at him. "Kierto, I'm sorry. But…" Her eyes locked on his. "I want to feel it. Right here, right now. I want to feel what she is feeling." She pointed to the Nessie._

_ His eyes widened, but he nodded slowly. "I cannot refuse you, young one. It is your right to know what is happening."_

_ "Even though no one else does?"_

_ "The suspicion is there." Kierto shrugged. "But no one will dig deep enough." He smiled. "We believed you would, even if we never showed this to you." _

_ He sighed and flicked a button on his Empathic Eliminator. _

_ The Nessie moaned, and Anomaly gasped. Tears formed in her eyes. _

_ The Nessie realized it wasn't alone, and leaned down to face her. It moaned softly._

_ The tears started to spill, streaking down her face. "Oh…" she whispered. _

_ The Nessie moaned again, and new tears formed. There was nothing but pain in this Nessie's eyes, in its emotions. Anomaly swallowed, trying to hide it, but was unsuccessful. Pain washed through her. It was impossible to feel anything but what the Nessie wanted her to feel. She gasped._

_ Kierto flicked the eliminator back on, and Anomaly could think again. She glared at him. Now there was more then pain. Now there was hate. Now there was rage. Now there was fury._

_ "What are you DOING to her?" Anomaly demanded. The Nessie seemed to nod in approval. Now it had someone on her side. "This creature did NOTHING to you!"_

_ Kierto raised a hand, almost in surrender. And yet, flames burned behind his eyes. "Listen. We save lives."_

_ "And destroy them." She snarled. "Look around you, KIERTO. How many people died trying to perfect these things? You can't experiment on EMPATHS!"_

_ And with that, Anomaly ran out. She didn't stop until she was out and away from the building._

_ When Kierto caught up with her, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. "Stop. Please. Just think about what you're doing. The council themselves approve of this. They believe it to be the best…"_

_ "The council is WRONG." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Kierto took a step back. Those words hadn't been spoken for thousands of years. The council was never wrong. _

_ She pulled his arm out of his grip, but he grabbed it again. "Just think about this. Please. We save lives."_

_ "You destroy them." She hissed. _

_ He looked at her. "Just… tell no one. You are held by secrecy."_

_ She pulled his arm away from him again, and this time he didn't try and get it back. "Done. I don't even want to think about it."_

_ He sighed. "I'm not retracting my offer, young one. It's still there."_

_ "Sure. If I have a change in mind, you'll be the first to know." She spat out the words. _

_ He nodded slowly, and she took off, running back to Artalis._

* * *

"So… You're an animal rights activist?" Lester questioned. Everyone was paying close attention to her story, so more than one person jumped when he spoke.

Anomaly laughed darkly. "Yeah. You could say that. But I'm talking EMPATHS. They're different from most animals. Very different."

Lester looked at her. "Different how, exactly?"

Anomaly took a deep breath. "The death of an empathic creature can kill a human. The emotions are INCREDIBLY strong. And while a person is not physically in pain, they believe they are. And the mind is a powerful thing, Lester. If they believe they are, then sometimes, it actually happens. I'm actually more interested in saving lives from both human and empathic species."

Lester looked confused. "So… you're an empathic rights activist."

Anomaly laughed. "Yeah. That works."

Lester nodded slowly. "All right. Continue."

* * *

_From then on, Anomaly went out of her way to be a nuisance. She stole things, random objects, from the council members. She had perfect disrespect for the authority of the city. She would never again look at them as above her. To her, they were far beneath her, and the rest of the people. The council members grew a distinguishable hate for her as well. _

_ Anomaly said whatever horrible thing would come out about the council. This turned the others in Artalis against her. She became a monster, a terror._

_ An outcast._

_ From then on, her 'friends' abandoned her. Her own family was ashamed of her, though they would never say it. Not to her face, anyway. The council was deathly afraid of her, because she knew their darkest secret._

_ And Anomaly kept uncovering secrets. It seemed as though the council had been lying to Artalis all her life. The city was hidden in a cover of lies and secrets and deception. And it made her furious. _

_ Her 'crimes' grew bigger with every secret she uncovered. When she found out that the council was hiding a cure for a disease, for economical purposes, the council decided that the way she uncovered this information was less then law-abiding. She was found inside the lab, having forged an ID chip and implanted it into her pattern to gain access. Anomaly put her intelligence into uncovering every secret the council ever had. And the more she searched, the more she discovered that she lived in a totalitarian society, with its head being the council member she despised most, the man she even now refused to name. The council was supposed to have no head member, but Anomaly knew different._

_ The lines were drawn when she found that very council member changing the laws in the law book. The line was crossed when she tried desperately to steal it. This had gone on too far. The people had to know what kind of a man they were being ruled by. _

_ When Anomaly was finally old enough, she knew what would happen before it did. It was expected. Every person in Artalis knew her name, the name she now rejected with everything she was. And every person in Artalis hated her. _

_ So, when she was a fully grown adult, the council had a meeting. She knew what the decision was before it had been made._

_ And, with that, Anomaly was banished from Artalis, never to return._

* * *

Everyone looked at Anomaly. She hadn't said a word about Sam. That was one part of her history she didn't particularly want to share.

Abby looked at Lester. "I think she's telling the truth."

Anomaly smiled. "Thank you, Abby. But that's what happened today. They didn't particularly like the fact that I changed times. So… they tried to keep me from doing it again." She looked at her bandaged shoulder.

"They tried to kill you?" Connor asked, shocked.

Anomaly smiled coldly. "It's nothing less than I expected. They don't exactly like me."

Lester looked at her for a long, tense minute. Finally, he sighed and signaled the guard.

Anomaly tensed as the man came closer to her, but there was no need. He unlocked her handcuffs and stepped back.

Anomaly smiled. "Thank you, Lester."

Lester raised a hand, cutting her off. "Not. One. Word. I'm bending enough rules as it is. I just don't want to have to deal with the paperwork involved in this."

Anomaly's smile widened. Abby came over to her and, with a smile threatening to break through, said, "That's Lester's way of saying welcome back to the team."

Anomaly looked at her. "Good to be back."


	12. What I Wouldn't Give

_What I wouldn't give for five minutes with that traitor…_

Anomaly tried to shake the thought from her mind. It did her no good to remember the past, especially not THAT past.

She sighed as she typed something into the keyboard on the ADD. But her eyes couldn't quite focus. They were glazed over, and she looked… dazed.

She sighed and kept typing. Things were how they'd always been. She'd been betrayed by her brother. She was used to that. She'd spent a long time in that cold desert, trying to come to terms with that. She thought she'd managed it.

Oh how wrong she was.

She couldn't handle it. She couldn't handle the fact that her brother had, once again, voted against her. A guilty verdict. Only this time, he'd sentenced her to…

She didn't want to think of the word. Death.

But the problem was, part of her HAD died the day Sam had voted against her for the second time.

The problem was, if he'd voted for her when they'd sentenced her to banishment, he wouldn't have done much. Maybe there would have been some time. She could have stayed there while there was a 'full investigation.' Or, until the council had faked enough evidence to send her away anyway.

But he could have helped. There would have been some time. The problem was, he'd become an outcast. Like her. They wouldn't punish HIM, not like they did her. He wouldn't be banished. He wouldn't be killed.

But he would be an outcast. And that was why he had done it.

But there was one more secret Anomaly told no one. And would never tell.

She'd forgiven Sam.

Before his second vote, she'd forgiven him. She'd understood what she'd been asking, and she realized that Sam just made a bad choice. She couldn't be furious at him for that.

So, even after his second decision had been made, the one where he'd sentenced her to death, she didn't hate him. She didn't despise him.

But then he'd just stood there and watched. And for that, she could never forgive him. There was no excuse. He didn't help her. She could understand if he didn't know they were going to kill her if he voted guilty. She didn't care about that so much anymore.

But he should have helped. It was his job as a brother. And he'd destroyed that.

Tears started to form in her eyes. _What I wouldn't give…_

She looked away from the ADD, and just started running. The others ignored it. After what she'd been through, they would run too. But they didn't know about Sam. They just knew that she was still running for her life. They didn't know that she was running FROM something so much bigger than that.

Once outside, Anomaly allowed the tears to run down her face. She wiped them away, disgusted with herself. Artalis had a problem with those who were weak. And, much as she hated to admit it, parts of Artalis still lived in her.

_What I wouldn't give…_

She wanted to kill Sam. She wanted to look him in the eyes and demand to know why and how he did it. Why he hated her. Why he refused to help her, even when the blade of a knife was at her throat.

And how he could ever live with himself.

She snarled and started to run again. She didn't want to think about it. And, sometimes, running was the only way she dealt with things. Because when she was running, she couldn't think of anything else.

But there was one problem. She had to stop.

She had to stop for air. She had to stop to rest. But Anomaly could run for hours without either of those.

It was when he heart broke that she had to stop.

Anomaly stopped on a dime, and would have been able to keep upright had she cared. Instead, she let herself fall to the ground, rolling over and over in the grass and dirt. She landed on her back. She said nothing and did nothing. She just sat there.

The pattern above her eye went purple around the edges. She reached up and touched it. When she pulled her hand away, something that looked like purple ink covered it. It disappeared after a moment.

"I'm dying, Kierto." She whispered. "Without you there to kill me."

It was something she always did. After her banishment, she often ran into Kierto in the vast, cold desert that became home. So she would think of what to say to him if he were there, even if he wasn't.

Only this time, he was.

"So I gathered." Kierto responded. "When?"

Anomaly swallowed. "Last year. My thirteenth birthday."

"And you've held on this long?"

Anomaly nodded. "Some days I wonder why." She replied. "And then I remember. I promised to come back." She looked at him, her eyes locking onto his. "And I'm keeping that promise."

Kierto nodded slowly. "I always wondered about you, Rouge Child. You were always so… hidden. Secret." He looked at her. "That was why I wanted you to replace me, young one. Because you could do it. You could stay quiet. You could run, and you could fight. You have already taken on the mighty city of Artalis. What COULDN'T you do?"

Anomaly chuckled humorlessly. "I couldn't talk to my brother, Kierto. I couldn't survive. And I can't stop RUNNING." She sighed. _What I wouldn't give…_

Kierto chuckled as well. "But, Anomaly…" He reached down and gently touched her cheek. "You already have."

Kierto transformed in front of her eyes. Her father looked at her. "You've lived. You've breathed. You've stopped running, here and now."

"But I can't keep going." She replied. She had long stopped trying to make sense of the world. Things happened as they did. "I can't live if I don't run. I can't run if I don't live. I can't stop. I have to keep going. But I can't anymore."

She lifted her fingers to her pattern, now completely purple, save the edges, which were black. The purple and black ink stained her fingers. "This is my life now. I have to keep running."

Her father looked kindly at her. "Anomaly…" He whispered. "You have so much to learn. You have challenged the city of Artalis itself. The most powerful city in the world. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Not anymore." Anomaly whispered. "I can't keep this up." She lay down on her back. The black edges on her pattern were slowly creeping in, suffocating the purple. "I'm dying. My brother hates me." She sighed. "I'm a criminal. I have nothing."

"You have the ARC. You have your promise. You have the hope that your brother will say he's sorry, that he will regret everything he's done."

"That's a LIE!" She hissed. "I don't have the ARC, don't you see? That's the only thing left! I gave up on my promise, long ago! I gave up on SAM! And now those in the ARC hate me. Can't you see? I have NOTHING!"

Her father placed his hand on her cheek, and her tears rolled onto it. "You have life, Anomaly. Don't waste it."

And, with that, he disappeared.

Anomaly took several deep breaths. The darkness was suffocating her. She couldn't hold it back. The real world HURT. Everything HURT. She just wanted the pain gone.

But her father was right. She had the ARC. She had life, and she wasn't going to waste it.

She resisted the crushing darkness, the black in her mind. She resisted the burn of the microchip in her pattern. The infected microchip.

Slowly, surely, the black on her pattern began to disappear. Then the purple. Finally, it was blue again. Her eyes darted about. Now she was alert, and could think again, she realized what must have happened.

Kierto and her father were an illusion, a hallucination. This had gotten worse than she'd thought. She stood up slowly.

She started to run again. _What I wouldn't give to be alive again. What I wouldn't give for Sam to tell me what I've always wanted to hear. What I wouldn't give to have those at the ARC trust me. What I wouldn't give to take Artalis down._

_ What I wouldn't give…_

* * *

Sam looked at the floor. His mother looked in, worried. He'd been like that for so long, ever since the secret council meeting. The one no one knew anything about.

She was quietly furious, but she was also very shy. Her whole life had been her children, and both of them had gotten so much farther in life than she had. Even… Rouge Child. That was her name now.

The old wound burned against her heart. But her husband had assured her that this was what Rouge Child had wanted. This was what was meant to be.

Part of her wanted to march up to the council and tell them to make everything better with Sam. They had no right to make him… like this! This madman, this tortured person in front of her, ashamed of everything he'd done.

As well he should be. But he'd had no choice. The law was the law, and the law commanded Rouge Child to be banished. There was no way around it.

Unfortunately, she was far too shy to tell the council anything. That was one trait Rouge Child had never inherited. She was always the brave one, battling Predators and taking on Artalis itself.

Sam's eyes were glazed over. His face was emotionless, yet pained. He had said nothing for days. His hands slowly twisted his knife, around and around, gently, softly. Like he was remembering a battle, long ago, where someone was lost.

The council member came in. So, Sam's father must have told him. Very well, if that was how it was to be. The council member laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He smiled, that smile that said everything would be ok. She smiled back, and he walked over to Sam.

He placed an arm around the boy's shoulder. "You did well, Sam. Very good. Not everyone has your loyalty."

"It's my duty, sir." Sam replied. His tone was dead, his eyes blank.

"Indeed, and you do it well." He looked at Sam. "You love Artalis, don't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you want it to be strong?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you did the right thing." The council member concluded, a smile on his face. "Your sister was… a handful. She had to be stopped. For the good of the city. For the good of…"

"The people?" Sam's voice was still blank, but a flicker of a flame burned behind his eyes.

The man smiled. "Indeed. For the good of the people."

Sam looked at him. For a long moment, their eyes locked. There was nothing in Sam's eyes. Nothing but death. Nothing but a cold, hard abyss. Nothing at all.

Slowly, Sam laid a hand on the council member's shoulder, who smiled. Sam let it slide down limply, accidentally catching on his pocket. His hand kept sliding, and fell limply down to his side. His eyes stayed blank.

The council member laid a firm, reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're a good man."

Some said nothing, his eyes dead. The council member left the house, followed by his mother. He was alone.

Slowly, he turned his hand over. In it, the key he'd pick pocketed from the council member glinted gold in the light. Perhaps part of his sister had rubbed off on him.

His hand wrapped around the key again, with new resolve. He was going to find out what the council member was hiding. He was going to see if his sister was correct.

He was going to destroy Artalis for destroying her.

* * *

Anomaly walked back into the ARC. Her tears were long gone. She was fine. That's what she told everyone. She just had something to take care of. Being the people they were, the ignored the whole thing, trying to leave her some sense of dignity.

Her metallic blue eyes darted about, taking everything in. Whatever happened, she had to stay alive. She had to keep her promise to the city of Artalis. It was her one goal. And she would stick to it.

Ikesa came up next to her. His different colored eyes looked deeply into her, as though he could see straight through her. His head tilted to one side. She felt his confusion at her emotions.

"Itara norfallok." She told him. Those two words said it all. It was basic enough for him to understand.

'Itara norfallok.' Running away.

* * *

"You ok for tonight?" Abby asked.

"I'm good. Just get out of here." Anomaly smiled, trying to get Abby out of the ARC, and stop worrying.

"She's fine, Abby." Connor continued. Abby looked at him, and he back down. She looked at Anomaly, sighed, then walked out. "See you tomorrow!" She called.

"See ya!" Anomaly called back. She would not say when. She had no reason to scare Abby further.

As soon as she figured Abby was gone, Anomaly was out the door. Where she was going, she knew. Why she was going, she had no idea.

As she raced, the wind blew back her hair and stung her eyes, causing the tears to fall again. But this time, it was not fear or sadness or anger. It was simply nature, working against her like everything else was.

Whatever happened, she had to find the council member, the one she would not name.


	13. Familiar Heartbreak

Sam walked quietly, keeping to the shadows, staying invisible. His pattern glinted in the sharp light coming from one of the many lights flaring around the place. He was going to have to be careful.

He ran up to the fence. It was electrified, so obviously it was meant to keep away predators. But it could keep out people, too. It was too large to climb without being noticed.

Sam backed away from the fence. The place was crawling with guards. Their eyes darted about, looking for anyone who would dare to cross into the area.

Sam snarled under his breath. How was he going to get in? There was no visible way. He began to wonder if this was such a good idea.

And then he saw it. The tower.

He smiled. He could do it. He could do it. There was a large mountain behind the building. It was perfect for defense, but not so perfect if someone could jump onto the tower…

Sam headed for the mountain. This was going to be a long night…

* * *

Anomaly sped down to the forest. It was very quiet, as though the night was holding its breath, waiting to see what she'd do next.

She stopped perfectly. This was where she needed to be. This was what had to be done.

She opened her hand, and the anomaly opened. It was something she'd never told those at the ARC. The anomaly she'd entered, she could open. She'd disabled the ADD, temporarily. It wouldn't see her anomaly, but it would see others. Her eyes were cold as she walked through. There was something she had to do.

* * *

Sam jumped off of the mountain, straight to the tower. His hands gripped the metal tightly. There were so many metal strands, weaving in an intricate pattern, creating this… this thing that the people here had obviously worked on for endless hours. But now Sam was going to destroy it. Forever.

Slowly, he climbed down the tower. Once he was at a distance where it would be safe to fall, he jumped down, landing perfectly. He had no doubt he would be killed on sight if someone saw him. But he honestly didn't CARE. Artalis had destroyed him, by destroying her. Now he was going to fight back. Like she had, so long ago…

Sam walked up behind the guard. There was only one, right here in front of the door. He came up behind him and slammed his head with a rock. The man was out before he could do anything. Sam propped him up against the wall, so that anyone looking this way would see nothing wrong. Then, he entered the building.

His first reaction was that he was in some sort of medical clinic. White tile decorated the floors, and the walls were bright, clean, white. Florescent lighting made everything and everyone look worse than they already were.

His eyes narrowed as he searched for a place to hide. It wasn't going to be easy to get out. He knew that.

He saw a man, walking through the doors easily. Sam followed him, keeping out of sight from both him and the guards. His speed was something Rouge Child and he both shared.

He kept behind the man, and realized that he had a pattern on his arm. Sam's eyes widened. Kierto. It had to be.

Sam realized how Rouge Child must have gotten in here, so long ago. That this must be the reason she'd always been so furious with the very city of Artalis. Kierto must have brought her here.

But Kierto wasn't going the direction Sam wanted to go, so he broke away from him, looking for someone else.

He'd thought he'd done it. That he'd managed to get behind her undetected. This was going to be harder; this person was shorter than Kierto.

But they'd seen him. The person whirled around, and Sam was caught. Then he saw her face.

Sam's eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat. "Rouge Child?"

"Sam?"

* * *

Anomaly sped through the desert. She'd been there for a long time. She knew where to go. And she needed to go to Artalis.

Unfortunately, her path led her to the very building that caused her hatred for the city. Her eyes grew cold, and her direction changed. She knew what she was doing, but not why she was doing it. All she knew was that she was going to destroy this building. Forever.

She reached the fence and drew her knife, the one that Kierto had thrown through the anomaly, the one that had landed in her shoulder. She knew what she was doing, and did it before she thought about it. The knife stabbed into the electrical fence, catching on one of the metal wires. She placed one foot on one of the wires, the rubber soles of her shoe conducting the electricity. With all the skill of a graceful Olympic athlete, she jumped over the fence.

She was in.

She found the unconscious guard that Sam had knocked out. She smiled, thinking he was just sleeping on the job. She walked past him and into the building.

She hadn't gotten far when she felt someone come up behind her. She whirled to face him.

Her eyes widened, and so did the man behind her.

"Rouge Child?" He asked.

"Sam?"

* * *

"I should have known." Rouge Child's eyes were cold as they locked on Sam.

Sam's eyes widened. "No, Rouge Child, it's not like that! I'm like you! I'm not supposed to be here!"

"Prove it." She snarled.

Sam almost wanted to walk up to a guard and turn himself in, if only to prove to his sister that he was telling the truth. But he couldn't do that. "I…I can't."

"Exactly." She spat. "You were never there, Sam. And you can't change that."

Sam winced. "I'm sorry, Rouge Child."

"That's NOT my NAME." She spat. "My name is ANOMALY."

Sam flinched from her voice. "I'm sorry, Anomaly. So sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"What? Mean to what? Sentence me to banishment? Sentence me to DEATH?" Anomaly's words cut deeper into Sam than he'd expected.

He looked down. "I didn't know they were going to kill you." He whispered.

"But you DIDN'T try and STOP them when you DID." Anomaly's eyes were hard, and filled with pure pain.

"Anomaly, I'm so sorry. I made a mistake…"

"You made a mistake, all right." She snarled. "Your mistake was ever thinking you had a chance at changing my mind. Here's your mistake, SAM. Talking to me, here and now."

Sam tried to speak, but then Anomaly said something that changed everything.

"I will NEVER forgive you, Sam. As long as I live, I will NEVER forgive you. Never."

Sam just stood there as she took off. He didn't say anything. He couldn't.

He ran out of the building. This was Anomaly's job now. He had other things he could do… He sighed. No matter what excuse he made, Sam knew that he was just running away. Running away from everything that he'd done. Running away from the sister that hated him.

He ran until he was home. Once there, he pulled the key out of his pocket. He stared at it for a long time.

His eyes were cold as he placed it back into his pocket. Artalis would pay for what it had done to their family. Artalis must be destroyed.

* * *

Anomaly stopped around a corner, tears streaking down her face. Purple tainted the edges of her pattern as she fought for control.

She couldn't think about Sam now. She had a job to do.

She started to run again. Her eyes darted about nervously, searching for anyone who could stop what she was doing.

Suddenly, her pattern began to burn. Purple and black seeped from the edges, drawing inky lines on her face as it drizzled down.

Anomaly clenched her teeth, trying with everything she was not to scream. It BURNED. It was all she could think about.

"Ierto Norktra!" She whispered, clutching at her pattern, trying to cool it down, to stop the PAIN. It was all she could think about. "I failed. I'm sorry. So sorry…"

"You didn't fail, Anomaly." Her father's voice drifted to her ears. "You will never fail…"

Anomaly looked up. She had something she needed to do.

If only to stop the pain.

* * *

Sam snuck out of the house. The Council member's key was heavy in his pocket, but he needed to do this. For Rouge… No. For Anomaly. For his sister.

He sped up and ran around the corner. There were no guards out here tonight. He was lucky.

He raced to the door to find that he hadn't needed the key. It was unlocked. The light was on.

Or perhaps he would need the key… Had Sam come any other night, he never would have made the discovery. Had he decided to stay at home that night, and come the next, he would have found that he needed to open the door. He would have found the Law Book, sitting on its small stone, in its perfect red cover with the golden bindings intact and beautiful. Had Sam come any other night, he would not have made the discovery that ended his life.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Sam walked into the room, keeping to the shadows.

For there, in the room, was the council member, the one Anomaly refused to name, the one she knew as 'sir.' The one who had placed Sam on the council that night, in the worst position possible, the one that made Anomaly hate him.

And he was changing the Law Book.

The red cover had been slipped off, so as not to receive any ink stains. The council member was smiling to himself, writing another new law into the old pages of the Law Book. The 'unfailing, never-changing' laws were being thrown out. Justice itself was being cast out into the dark.

Sam's breath caught in his throat. When he'd become a council member, he had been sure there were no laws on the particular crime that his sister committed. But, when he'd checked the Law Book, it was all there. His sister's crimes. Her necessary punishment. Everything.

The council member's ears pricked and Sam held his breath, trying not to make a single sound. Finally, the council member returned to what he'd been doing.

Sam tried to turn around. The others had to know. They had to be told. The city of Artalis had to know of the council member's crimes…

But who would believe him? For thousands of years, it had been a fact that the council was never wrong. No one would say it, for generations upon generations. No one even thought it. Until Anomaly came along…

But Sam had to try. He HAD to. There was nothing else.

As he turned around, he knocked into a statue on the small table next to him. He tried to reach for it, but he was too late. Normally, he could have done it. But by the time he'd realized that he'd knocked it over, it was already too close to the floor, about to crash.

The statue shattered to a million pieces on the floor, along with any hope Sam had of showing the city of this man's crimes. The council member whirled around, and saw Sam there in the shadows.

His eyes were wide open, as though he couldn't truly believe what he was seeing. He was caught, and he knew it.

Suddenly, a smile went across his face. "Sam! You scared me!" He crossed over to him.

Sam took a step back. "No." He snarled. "You're a liar! You condemned my sister to banishment… through THIS? What happened to the laws, SIR?"

The council member raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Sam, I assure you I was doing nothing I wouldn't do in front of the very city of Artalis." He promised.

"Then DO IT!" Sam snarled. "Prove to me that you're telling the truth! Show the city!"

The council member shook his head slowly. "There's no point, Sam. It's nothing worth showing to them."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Explain." He asked, but wasn't really going to believe the answer. He didn't care.

The council member smiled. "Of course. You see, over the years, the Law Book gets older, Sam. And with that ageing, the ink fades. Some of the pages themselves become worn down and begin to crumble into dust. We can not allow that to happen. So, I was fixing the book, Sam. Nothing more. I was just placing in the bolder lettering when you came in." He lifted the book slightly off of the table. "See?"

Sam looked at the book. It seemed that the council member was telling the truth, but that could easily have been planned.

But Sam nodded slowly. If he was going to pull this off, he was going to need the council member's trust. He smiled. "I'm sorry, sir. It was a mistake."

The council member smiled. "It's quite all right."

The council member draped his arm around Sam's shoulder, and started to show him out. "These are strange and desperate times, Sam. We never expected to banish your sister; it just happened. Many things are different than they used to be…" He trailed off, as though deep in thought. His hand slid down a little, onto Sam's back.

Instinct saved Sam's life. He whirled around, grabbing the council member's arm and twisting with all his might. The council member let out a gasp, and the knife dropped out of his hand, clattering to the floor with a metallic ring. The council member followed, landing face first on the hard rock floor.

"Things are different, SIR." Sam snarled, then sped over to the Law Book. He picked it up and turned to the other man. "Back then, council members didn't need to stab other council members in the back."

He was about to speed out the door, but the council member was on his knees, quickly rising to his feet. He wiped blood from his lip. "Your family was always interfering." He spat. "Forever in the way! Your sister was best GONE! FOREVER!"

"No one." Sam said.

The council member raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Sam's eyes blazed with an unnamable fury, hate burning in his eyes like a dark flame. "No one talks about my sister that way. NO ONE!"

And with that, he ran past the council member in a blur, knocking him aside. "I'll show them all!" He cried. "They'll see your lies, SIR!"

But the council member had done too much, just to have the book taken from him now. He threw his knife at Sam.

Years of practice had sharpened the council member's skill. Sam cried out and dropped the book to the ground, a knife in his back.

The council member smiled with grim satisfaction, already thinking of the lie he was going to tell. _The boy snuck up on me! If he hadn't been trying to steal the Law Book in the first place, this wouldn't have happened… a tragic accident, so tragic…_

He walked up to Sam and kicked his body in the side. Sam went limply along with his foot, but otherwise didn't move. The council member smiled darkly and picked up the Law Book. The smile widened when he noticed the lack of blood stains.

He smiled at the boy, then turned around to place the book back in its place. He was done anyway. Sam had stopped nothing.

"Such a waste…" A voice said behind him.

The council member smiled. "Ah, Kierto. You're here. Good."

Kierto looked at the council member. "Was it really necessary to kill the boy? He did nothing to you."

The council member shrugged. "He was going to compromise the entire operation. He was going to show the Law Book to the city of Artalis. I believe it was necessary."

Kierto sighed and leaned next to Sam, pulling the knife from the boy's back and handing it to the council member, who began cleaning it. "You could have thought something up. There was no need for bloodshed."

"Who has that kind of time?" The council member smiled. "It was much easier this way. Now the boy won't face the same fate his sister did. He won't need to become an outcast." He looked at Kierto. "Don't tell me you've gone soft."

Kierto sighed again. "Well, sir, that was why I came to see you. I saw his sister today. At the clinic."

The council member's eyes widened. "What? Is she dead?"

Kierto snorted. "It's hard to imagine ANYONE surviving THAT. You see, sir, she…"

"She what? Spit it out, man!"

"She destroyed the clinic."

The council member's eyes widened, but Kierto kept his voice calm.

"The entire thing exploded. She took out the entire building." He sighed. "But she was inside. There was no way she could have gotten out."

The council member nodded slowly. "How soon can we rebuild?"

"Tomorrow." Kierto replied. "But Rouge Child is dead, sir. Don't you think we should tell the parents?"

The council member shrugged. "Tell them if you must. They should have expected it by now, though. No one can handle that long in the desert outside of these walls. Not even Rouge Child. They know nothing about her changing times."

Kierto shrugged. "Whatever you say, sir."

The council member smiled. "Exactly. Whatever I say." He smirked. "Come in. Tell me what happened…"

On the ground, blood pouring from a wound on his back, Sam opened his eyes. Anomaly was… dead? She was gone?

And she never forgave him…?

Sam struggled to get to his feet, and, after collapsing more than once, succeeded. No. Anomaly couldn't be dead. She COULDN'T. He had to tell her. She was right. It was the only thing keeping him alive…

He started to run, though more lopsided than usual, the grace taken out of his steps. He would at least see the clinic. He had to know. He had to.

"Forgive me, Anomaly." He whispered. "I was wrong, so wrong…"

* * *

When Kierto and the council member exited the room, they were shocked to find nothing but a pair of bloody footprints, which disappeared after a short distance. Instantly, they sounded the alarm, and guards were sent after the boy.

Red blood stained the sand and Sam kept running and running…

_And running…_


	14. It Matters

Anomaly snuck in through the door of the clinic, her pattern burning, the black becoming dominant over the edges, and creeping in further along the purple.

"Rouge Child?"

Anomaly snarled under her breath. She'd been seen, and she knew it.

She turned around slowly, her knife in her hand.

Her eyes widened. "Kierto?"

Kierto chuckled. "I had a feeling you'd survived."

Anomaly glared at him. This night had already been filled with too many reminders of the past. But she still had to ask. "Where did you end up?"

Kierto shrugged. "The Jurassic, I believe. We weren't there for long."

Anomaly nodded slowly. "I figured as much." She looked at him, her eyes cold.

Kierto sighed. "I suppose you've come to finish what you've started…" He trailed off as her pattern came into the light. His eyes widened. "Oh…" his voice became a whisper.

Anomaly looked down. "Thirteenth birthday." She explained. "One month."

If Kierto's eyes were wide before, they were huge now. "And you've held on THIS LONG?"

Anomaly nodded. "A whole year." She swallowed, blinking back tears.

Kierto looked at her. "Rouge Child… You are impossible."

Anomaly smiled darkly. "That's what I keep saying."

There was silence.

Finally, Kierto spoke up. "You know what I have to do, don't you?"

Anomaly nodded. "Will you, though?"

Kierto sighed. "Of course, Rouge Child. My duty is to the city of Artalis."

Anomaly barked out a laugh. "Artalis! What has this lowlife city ever done to save you? What has this city ever done FOR ANYONE?"

"We save lives!"

"YOU save lives, Kierto! That's YOUR goal. Is that the COUNCIL'S GOAL?" She snarled. "See for yourself, Kierto."

"IT IS THE DUTY OF ARTALIS! THEY HELP PEOPLE, ROUGE CHILD!"

"MY NAME IS ANOMALY!" She spat out the words, as though they held an unimaginable venom.

Kierto took an involuntary step back at the fierceness in her voice. For a long time, no one said anything.

Anomaly looked into Kierto's eyes. "I don't care who you are or what you've done. But your decisions now matter. And they always will." Black ink dripped down the side of her face, already becoming dominant in her pattern.

Kierto looked at her for a long, tense minute. Finally, he sighed. "You think you can get everyone out in time?"

Anomaly smiled. "Definitely."

Kierto nodded slowly. "Artalis will rebuild, you know."

Anomaly shrugged. "Then let it. I'll have done my part."

Kierto nodded again and sped away from her, getting out of the building as fast as he could. Whenever he saw anyone, he would shout to them, telling them that there was a crazy person about to blow up the entire building.

Not surprisingly, everyone believed him, and started running out the door.

Anomaly gracefully snuck into the room. There, a Loch Ness Monster was moaning softly.

"It's ok." She whispered. "I'm here…" She picked the locks on the chains, setting the Nessie free. "Go." She whispered.

The Loch Ness Monster looked at her for a long, grateful moment. She gently tapped Anomaly's pattern, the black ink staining her skin for a long moment, before disappearing. Then, the Loch Ness began crashing through the walls, running out of the building forever, never to come back, and destroying parts of it out of pure hate.

Anomaly sped throughout all of the rooms, freeing creatures everywhere she went. Many of them were Florlics, and it brought her hatred rising back to the surface.

Finally, everyone was out, both human and empath alike.

Anomaly sped towards the control room. The clinic had a large power source in there, meant to keep everything under control.

But now, it would destroy the clinic.

Anomaly pulled her knife out, and electricity danced over it. This ended here. Forever.

She struck out with the knife, straight into the controls. Sparks flew, and flames began their lethal dance around the building. Anomaly watched the fire burn, traveling over to the generator.

The flames licked the sides of the generator, and Anomaly started running.

And then it exploded.

It was a fantastic display of sparks and flames, blooming out in a deadly flower of destruction. These were not the cold flames that had been so key for Anomaly's survival in the desert. These were orange and red, burning across the distance.

Anomaly kept running.

The flames burned at her back, dancing around her, daring her to stop. She ran faster, becoming an invisible blur against the fire.

Finally, she made it out of the building. The flames followed for a moment, then simply flared upwards in the explosion. They danced against the cold moonlight, lighting up the dark in their fury.

Anomaly collapsed to the ground, panting. Each breath burned like the fire she'd caused. Black ink trailed off of her pattern, staining the sand. A small area of purple tried desperately to hold on, to stay alive. Anomaly still had her promise…

Watching in the distance, Kierto gazed at the fire grimly. Anomaly had given her life, but for what? A minor setback in the council's plan? They could rebuild the building in less time then she could ever imagine…

Anomaly took a deep breath, and the black began to creep further in her pattern. She let out a long scream that rang soundlessly through the night. She couldn't find the air to scream out loud. Nothing but silence came from her, silence that danced across the full moon, seeking out one person, and one person alone…

Kierto winced, and the edges of his pattern began to turn dark. Purple ink began to drizzle down his arm. He smiled. So, Anomaly was more capable of survival than he'd thought. She was still out there, her promise alive inside her…

Anomaly took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Her pattern BURNED. Slowly, carefully, something came over to her.

"Tertelio." She whispered.

The Florlic, Tertelio, was small for its kind. It had been one of the few Florlics who hadn't been picked, years ago, by anyone. He whimpered and pressed his cold nose against her pattern.

"Tertelio…" she whispered again.

Tertelio whimpered again.

Her eyes widened. "Nierta. Fortro malkta…"

But Tertelio wasn't listening. She felt his emotions gently press against hers.

And the pattern slowly grew lighter. Purple infiltrated the black, and blue infiltrated the purple.

"Nierta, Tertelio…"

But the Florlic just looked at her with deep, pained eyes. He whimpered and lay down.

Anomaly stood up, tears in her eyes. "Don't do this." She whispered in English.

The winged dog's eyes locked on hers, as though to say, _Too late._

Anomaly sobbed as the Florlic took a deep breath, and let it out in a gust. His last breath. Tertelio's eyes closed.

Tears drizzled down Anomaly's face. She pressed her face into his fur. She'd thought about choosing him, long ago.

A whimper brought her head above the dead Florlic. Anomaly gazed at the small pack of the winged dogs, their eyes pleading with her.

She sighed. "Setra, Nortor, le Tratra." The three dogs stepped forward. It amazed Anomaly that she remembered all of their names. "Itra nortoroa."

They gazed at her for a long moment, before obeying her orders and heading off.

"Terta, Irfla, Tornalo." She said. "Grala Nortoroa."

The dogs did as she asked. Anomaly continued, until all of them had disappeared from her sight. Florlics were empathic creatures; they needed someone there. Three should be enough for each of them not to go insane in that cold desert. And enough to protect each other from the creatures that lay in wait for them…

She sighed, and began digging a hole for Tertelio. The Florlic was gone, and to her, it was all her fault.

When she had finished, she sighed. It was over. The reason she hated Artalis was, for now, destroyed. And Tertelio had saved her life. She could still keep her promise.

But now she had more time.

She glared at the city, shining in the distance. Artalis had done so much damage…

She sighed and ran to her anomaly. It flared open, dancing and shimmering with its unnatural light.

She stepped through, and it closed behind her.

* * *

Sam kept running. "ANOMALY!" he called. His voice cracked, his throat too sore to scream to his sister. "NO!"

Too late. Anomaly had stepped through the shimmering distortion, and it had closed behind her.

Sam collapsed to the ground, his blood staining the sand red as he sobbed. He was so close, so close…

He tried to keep his breathing even, but it was too late. Already, black was beginning to taint the edges of his now-purple pattern.

Slowly, he got to his feet. He had to find Anomaly. There was nothing else.

* * *

"Where were you?"

Lester's question rang in Anomaly's ears. She winced. "Out."

Lester glared at her. "You were gone for almost a day. I can't have you running off whenever you feel like it."

"What does it matter?" Anomaly tried to keep her voice calm.

"It matters." Lester replied.

_And may very well matter to you now, Rouge Child. For we hold your life in our hands…_

Anomaly didn't know what happened next. All she knew was that she found her hand at Lester's throat, pinning him to the wall behind him.

"SHUT UP!" She snarled. "NORTALO FRITARA!"

"PUT HIM DOWN!" One of the guards snapped, loading his gun and aiming it at Anomaly's head.

Anomaly's eyes had glazed over. For a long, tense minute, she looked at Lester. Slowly, the clarity began to return to her eyes, and she began to lower him, slowly, gently, to the ground.

She looked at the ground, trying to keep calm, panting. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

She sped out of the room, into the area she'd claimed as 'hers,' and collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

Connor found her like that an hour later.

"Hey." He whispered.

"Hi." Anomaly's voice was soft. The tears had long ago dried, and her gaze was distant.

"Wanna talk about it?" Connor asked.

"No."

Connor nodded slowly. She would tell him if she wanted to.

There was silence for a long time.

Finally, Anomaly sighed. "How would you feel, Connor?" She sat up and turned to face him. "How would you feel if you were me?"

Connor shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know anything about you, Anomaly."

Anomaly sighed again, and there was silence.

Finally, she spoke again. "Can I trust you with something?"

Connor nodded. "Sure."

"You won't say anything?"

"Promise."

Anomaly nodded slowly. "Con, I was banished from my city." She looked at him. "You knew that." She sighed. "But, what you don't know is that I was banished… when I was eight years old."

Connor's eyes widened. "EIGHT?"

Anomaly nodded. "In my time, that's the equivalent of your eighteen. Everyone…" Her voice broke, and fresh tears began to form." Everyone wanted me gone. As soon as possible." She sighed. "I've been in that desert for six years, Con. SIX YEARS. I've been alone for all that time, and every day, I couldn't…" Her voice broke again.

Connor's eyes couldn't be wider. "Six years? H… How could you STAND it?"

Anomaly shook her head. "It wasn't easy." She sighed again and looked down. "And it got worse."

Connor looked at her. "Worse how…?"

Anomaly sighed. "There was someone on the council that banished me. He…He was the only person who could have, or WOULD have, done something. Kept me from being banished." She swallowed. "His name was Sam."

Connor's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Sam? But…" Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Oh…"

Anomaly nodded. "My brother. My own brother voted me out of the city."

If Connor's eyes were wide before, it was nothing compared to how huge they were now.

Anomaly swallowed and tried to brush away the tears that were threatening to break through. "And then…" She sighed and told him everything that had happened to her since that day. Connor listened in stunned silence. He never interrupted her, simply sat there, nodding and listening carefully to each word.

Finally, she'd finished. Connor looked at her.

"Anomaly…" He trailed off, looking at her pattern, which she'd allowed to go purple on the edges. "So, you're dying?"

Anomaly nodded. "I found out on my thirteenth birthday. I was given a month to live." She smiled, triumphant. "I'm still here."

Connor raised his fingers. "May I…?"

Anomaly nodded, and Connor gently touched the pattern. Purple ink stained his fingers for a moment, before it disappeared.

"What is it?" He asked.

Anomaly sighed. "I heard that Nessie's pain, so long ago." She looked down. "I never told you, Con. But, our species…" She looked into his eyes.

"We're empathic."

* * *

"Empathic?"

Anomaly nodded. "Very slightly. Hardly at all. And, for the most part, it's internal. We aren't senders, we're receivers." She sighed. "That's why Artalis was creating the empathic eliminators in the first place, Con. Because we're very sensitive to the Florlic's emotions." She looked down. "And that's why their emotions can kill us." She sighed again. "That's why I was so hurt by that Nessie. When I found out, back at the clinic. Because I'm empathic. And so was she."

Connor's eyes were huge as he stared at her.

A single tear fell from Anomaly's eye. "But… I told you that if someone thinks their in pain, sometimes, it can happen, right? Well, that's exactly what happens with my species. When we're in pain, emotionally, sometimes it transfers and becomes actual, physical pain." She tapped her pattern lightly. "And, most of the time, it transfers to our microchip."

"Microchip?"

Anomaly smiled. "The one word you hear." She muttered before explaining. "We're cyborgs, Con."

Connor's eyes popped. "Cyborgs?"

Anomaly nodded. "In a way. That's what the patterns ARE. They're birthmarks, but then we have millions of microchips added. That's why I can do all that stuff with certain pieces of technology. That's why I can do this." She raised her hand, electricity dancing around it. "Because of the microchips." She sighed. "But there's one in particular. It's the one responsible for keeping the others working." She sighed. "And that's the one that fused. When that happens, we die unless we get a replacement."

She looked at him. "And that's what happened. It started with the Nessie back at the clinic. Then, with being alone, and what happened with Sam…" Her voice broke.

Connor looked back at her. "Oh…"

Anomaly wiped tears from her eyes. "Yeah. My pattern started turning purple on my thirteenth birthday." She snorted. "One heck of a birthday present." She shook her head slowly and sighed.

"I'm sorry…" Connor whispered. "I mean, I know that doesn't begin to cut it, but…"

Anomaly smiled. "It's ok, Con. It's just good to tell someone at last."

Ikesa, sitting next to the two of them, snorted, indignant.

Anomaly's smile widened. "No offence, Ikesa. But sometimes I need to talk to a human."

Ikesa placed his head on his paws, and let out a long, deep sigh.

Anomaly turned back to Connor. "Don't say anything."

Connor nodded. "No problem."

Anomaly smiled. Connor sometimes seemed like an incompetent idiot, but often, the incompetent idiots were the ones who understood.

* * *

Sam took a deep breath, and then coughed. Crimson stained the sand, pouring from the dark red wound on his back. But that wasn't the only wound he'd acquired.

Three Predators. At once. It was a nightmare out here! Sam was beginning to wonder how Anomaly had gone through this…

He chocked, and stumbled along the ground, unable to run anymore. He took a deep breath, and blood flowed down his arms. Three Predators. And he'd destroyed them all.

He tried to keep his breathing steady. He had to find Anomaly.

There was nothing else left…


	15. ColdHearted Nightmare

"You still didn't answer my question."

Lester's voice was filled with accusation. Anomaly didn't blame him; after their last encounter, he'd been less than friendly.

Anomaly shrugged. "I told you. I was out." Her eyes went blank as she tried to achieve a bored look.

It worked. "This isn't a joke, Anomaly. You need to be here, on time, everyday."

Anomaly shrugged. "Why should I? Face it, Lester. You're talking to a girl who has worked on her own schedule for years." She rolled her eyes. "Do you really think YOU can change that?"

Lester sighed. "When you work here, we will need you. Whenever the Anomaly Detector goes off…"

He trailed off, noticing the 'blah blah blah' hand motions she was doing. She smiled. "Sorry, Lester. You were saying?"

Lester bristled. "You have a real problem with authority…"

Anomaly rolled her eyes and cut him off. "There you go! You've finally realized the truth!" She glared at him. "I'm sorry. But I've lived under the Artalis council long enough to not trust ANYONE with power. It all goes right up here." She tapped the side of her head.

Lester's eyes narrowed. "Authority is not always a bad thing, Anomaly."

Anomaly was on her feet in a second, in Lester's face before he could blink. "You're right, Lester. Not always." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "But if you'd been through HALF of what I have, you wouldn't be so quick to make that kind of statement." She spat out the words.

Lester took a step back, and then straightened up, indignant. "Listen. You work for me. You traveled to this time by yourself, Anomaly. Now, if you want to go back, I'm perfectly FINE with that. But while you are HERE, you work under MY rules."

"NORFRICTO!" Anomaly spat, suddenly shoving Lester into the wall. "Norfallow tetara!" Her eyes were glazed, electricity dancing on her hands.

"Tetora, Nortoanomaly!"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Anomaly's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes gained their clarity through pure shock. "No." she whispered. "Nierta…"

Her eyes were wide as she slowly backed out of the room.

And that's when she started running.

She ran in a blur of speed, not thinking to turn back. She kept running and running.

_And running…_

* * *

Sam couldn't breathe. He'd been running for too long. He couldn't keep going…

And then the light appeared. It was distorted, flickering. An anomaly.

And he knew where it went.

Relieved, Sam stood up for one last run. Soon he would find her. And then he could tell her.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "So sorry…"

* * *

"NO!"

Anomaly's cries rang through the forest.

"NO NO NO! He CAN'T be, he CAN'T BE!"

Her shouts chocked off into harsh sobs. "No…" She whispered.

She let out a long, tortured cry, screaming out her fury to the world. "NO!"

She collapsed to the ground, electricity dancing around her, her pattern turning black around the edged. "No…"

"NORTALIA!" She screamed. "Nee Frata! Nee Frata!"

"Nortra…" The soft, hoarse voice whispered out to her.

Anomaly's ears pricked. "Itara?"

* * *

Sam collapsed to the ground. Red blood soaked the hard ground beneath him. His heart pounded in his ears, blocking out all other sound. His eyes were open, but he could see nothing.

He didn't know how long it was before the sound of his heartbeat died down. He didn't know how long it was before his eyes came out of the darkness. All he knew was what he saw and heard when they did.

The figure was speaking in some sort of different language. But he did recognize something.

"NORTALIA!" The figure screamed. "Nee Frata! Nee Frata!" 'NO! He can't be! He can't be!

Sam's vision cleared. "Nortra…" He whispered. 'Help.'

Anomaly's ears pricked. "Itara?" What?

"Anomaly…" Sam whispered.

Her eyes widened and she looked for him. She saw his hand held above the plants exhaustedly. She ran to him. Her eyes popped. "Sam?"

* * *

Abby sighed. "I'm going to look for her, Lester. Don't try and stop me."

"I never said anything." Lester said, indignant.

Abby glared at him. "Something's wrong. I know it."

Lester looked at her for a long moment. Finally, he sighed. "Go. But be back as soon as you can."

Abby nodded.

"I'm coming too." Connor said, breaking into the conversation.

Abby thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Why not?"

It wasn't a very long drive. Anomaly and Connor had talked about where Anomaly came when she was like this.

When they saw her, something happened that they didn't expect.

She was sitting next to someone, tears in her eyes. "Nortalia… Sam…"

The boy had blonde hair and metallic blue eyes, similar to Anomaly. His pattern was identical to hers, except for the small circle under her eye.

And he was covered in blood.

The blood was obviously his, as he was struggling to speak. Anomaly had his head in her arms, sobbing.

"Istrata. Istrata…" He whispered. "Kita tara. Kita tara…"

Anomaly's eyes were wide. "Nortalia! Sam, Nortalia!"

His eyes landed on hers. "Ista norto nierta flikta…?"

Whatever he'd said seemed to break Anomaly's heart. "Nortalia!" She protested. "Sam, liska flikta! Pelkto, liska flikta!" She started to sob. "Istara, noro istara…"

Sam's eyes were starting to glaze over. "Kirto norlo liska?" He asked, panic in his voice.

"Sam! SAM!" Anomaly's voice was becoming desperate. "NORTALIA! SAM! Nokto torla! Nokto torla…" Her words broke off into heart-wrenching sobs.

A light, sad smile drifted to Sam's lips. "Ista flikta…"

His eyes glazed over, and his head fell limp in Anomaly's arms. She began to sob, not caring that her brother's blood was soaking into her shirt, dyeing her skin red.

Suddenly, she looked up. Her eyes were as dark as a nightmare. The shadows themselves seemed to cower in fear from her fury. Her eyes blazed with dark flames, shining bright in pure hatred.

She stood up, gently laying her brother's head on the ground. She started walking, but stopped after a short distance.

"Nortalo Fritara." She said the words with a cold tone, a dark fury that sent shivers down Abby and Connor's spines. "Nortalo Nortrita. Tertara nortalia placto erta orkat Tolio Etora talo nukta terrnok."

Her hand stretched out in a fist, before opening, an anomaly shimmering in the palm of her hand. The light flickered and danced around Anomaly.

"Tetara norfallow!" She cried. "Itesta Norktro! Nota Liska nortra." Her eyes were dark. "Nortalo Fritara. Nortalo Nortrita. Istra notktor terla. Kestra norflo taralo testarta. Ketra elo liska trotar nortra! Kestaro telkto nora te Tolio Etora!"

She gazed into the anomaly, her eyes hard. "Te Tolio Etora! Te Tolio Etora! Te Tolio Etora!" She repeated the phrase, over an over, each time her fury visibly increasing.

Abby didn't know why she did what she did. All she knew was that Anomaly was in pain, that she needed help. That she needed someone on her side.

Abby had no idea what the phrase Anomaly was repeating meant. She just knew it meant too much to Anomaly to just ignore. So she came next to Anomaly. "Te Tolio Etora!" She cried.

Anomaly looked at her, and Abby knew she'd done the right thing. She looked so… grateful. Like Abby was the only thing keeping her alive. "Te Tolio Etora!" Anomaly screamed, and Abby screamed with her.

Even Connor joined in, after a moment. For a long time, it was all they did. "Te Tolio Etora!" The anomaly seemed to respond to their cries, shimmering and distorting the light surrounding them.

Finally, Anomaly stopped, and the anomaly closed.

* * *

Far away, in another time altogether, the man Anomaly refused to name shivered. It couldn't be…

The small circle pattern on his arm began to burn. He rolled up his sleeve, and there it was. In the bright, metallic blue color, a black shape was forming. He watched in horror as a vague picture started to come into focus.

When it was over, his eyes widened. It was an anomaly. It was small and not very detailed, but defiantly an anomaly. He'd done some research on Rouge Child's new name. He knew. This was HER doing.

He covered it up quickly, but not before the microchips in the pattern on his face replayed her message through time.

_I will find you. Through time and through space…_

* * *

Anomaly said nothing as she buried Sam's body.

Abby and Connor had stayed for a while, but decided to give her some space and went to wait in the car.

Tears streaked down Anomaly's face as she kept digging. The ground wasn't giving her trouble, but she almost wished it would; if only to keep her mind off of what she was doing.

Her knife stabbed into the ground again, and she cleared the loose dirt away. She tried to focus on the task at hand, but it was hopeless. Her mind kept drifting to the limp, lifeless body of her brother, only a short distance away.

She stabbed the knife into the ground again and again, tears streaming into the earth below. Her eyes glazed over as the task became natural, almost like breathing. It was nothing; just something that you could control when you thought about it. It did nothing to help the desperate need to keep her mind away from Sam, away from his death, away from the horror that the Council Member had caused.

The Council Member. Anomaly snarled reflexively. It would be him. He would be the one to stab her brother in the back. He would be the one to destroy EVERYTHING.

She stabbed the knife into the ground again, and purple ink began to drizzle down the side of her face.

* * *

Anomaly ran by the car simply because she didn't care enough to run faster. She allowed her eyes to glaze over, unable to focus on anything. She couldn't THINK. She couldn't do anything…

When they arrived at the ARC, Anomaly was in no mood for talking. But Lester had other ideas.

"WHERE WERE YOU?" He demanded in that no-nonsense tone that would make anyone cringe. Anyone human, that is.

But Anomaly wasn't human at the moment. "Leave it alone, Lester." She snarled.

"I CAN'T leave it alone, Anomaly." Lester snapped. "You're gone too often, and quite frankly…"

"SHUT UP!" Anomaly shrieked, tears streaming down her face. She whirled around, and Lester was sent flying backwards as a bolt of electricity slammed into him. "JUST SHUT UP! Stop it, just STOP!" Her tears kept flowing, and purple ink began to drizzle down the side of her face.

Ikesa appeared at her side, the other three Florlics following. Ikesa whimpered.

Anomaly collapsed to her knees. "JUST STOP!" Electricity danced around her like a storm, sparkling and flashing in its lethal dance. Tears mingled with the electricity. "STOP!"

Lester stared at her with wide eyes. "Anomaly, stop this NOW!" He ordered.

"THERE YOU GO!" Anomaly snarled. "Ordering people around. You know NOTHING, Lester!" Her voice was tortured, inhuman. "NOTHING!" She got to her feet and ran again, this time to her area of the ARC.

Abby and Connor came in too late. A hole had been blasted into the wall where Anomaly had thrown Lester. "What happened?" Abby demanded.

"Nothing." Lester snapped.

Abby glared at him. "Where's Anomaly?"

"Ask her yourself." Lester replied, snarling. "You won't have much time."

Abby's eyes were dark as they locked on his for a split-second. She couldn't make sense of his comments, but she didn't care. She ran to see Anomaly.

Anomaly was sobbing into her makeshift pillow. Ikesa and Kesea were whimpering. Ferakesa and The Guard were looking at Abby as though to say_ Why aren't you doing anything? Help her._

Abby came over to Anomaly and laid her hand on her shoulder. "Anomaly… are you ok?"

"Would you be?" Anomaly asked darkly.

Connor entered the room. "Abby, leave it." He whispered. "She needs to be alone."

Anomaly shot Connor a grateful look before collapsing again.

Abby sighed. "Tell me when you're ready to talk."

Anomaly nodded slowly, tears clinging to her cheeks, sparkling like diamonds.

* * *

The men moved quickly. Anomaly gave them credit for that. But she had spent six years in an unforgivable desert. She was used to sleeping with one eye open. And moving faster than anything else.

The first one was unconscious before he could cry out. They were all dressed in black, but that did nothing to stop Anomaly. Her eyes had long ago become as comfortable in the dark as they had in the light.

Her knife was in her hand before anyone could blink, electricity dancing around it. "Back off." She warned.

Anomaly saw the man coming up behind her. But she didn't have the strength to fight anymore. She was tired of fighting.

She pretended not to see him as he inserted the needle into her skin as quickly as he could. The sedative went to work quickly. Anomaly's vision blurred, and she blacked out.

* * *

The white walls and florescent lighting made it look like a medical clinic, and for a moment, Anomaly was back at Artalis, destroying the clinic in a moment of pure fury.

But the illusion soon wore off as men in masks stepped foreword. They looked like your typical doctor or surgeon, with teal outfits and over-sanitized hands covered in latex gloves. Their eyes were hidden in the shadows cast by their own faces, created with the help of the hideous florescent lights, flickering overhead.

Anomaly sighed. "I know you're listening." She surprised herself by the dead tone in her voice. "And I want you to keep listening, Lester." She wanted to glare at him, but he wasn't there. "I don't care what you thought. This is my fight. I'm sorry." She sighed and glanced at the metal cuffs confining her to her bed. They were taking no chances.

"Who are you?" One of the men in masks asked. "Really, who?"

Anomaly looked at him. "Anomaly. That's who I am." She sighed. "The first word I ever learned in your language." A single tear streaked down her face. "It really fits, if you think about it. A deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form." She chuckled darkly. "A perfect definition of me."

The man looked at her. Someone came up behind him. "The pattern?"

The man shrugged. "Connor said it was infused with microchips. It seems the logical place to start."

Anomaly snarled. "Touch it and die."

The man rolled his eyes.

Anomaly's eyes grew dark. "NORTALO!" She snarled. She pulled her hands up, and the cuffs snapped. Her eyes were hard as they locked on the man's. "I tried to be nice." She shrugged, and slammed her hand into his nose. He flew backwards.

Anomaly ran out of the building.

* * *

"You. Did. WHAT?"

Abby's eyes were dark with fury.

Lester shrugged. "She had too much of a temper. I should never have allowed her here in the first place."

"She lost her BROTHER!" Abby snapped. "You'd have a TEMPER too!"

Lester sighed. "There was nothing I could do for her. I tried to overlook it, but she… has a history."

Abby glared at him, unable to believe what he was saying. "Are you KIDDING? Lester, Anomaly did NOTHING to deserve THAT!"

Lester sighed. "It was what we would have done in the first place."

"What? Given up a fourteen-year-old girl up for a LAB RAT?"

Lester bristled. "She's twenty-three." He replied weakly, though his tone of voice indicated no room for debate.

"UGH!" Abby groaned. "You're WORTHLESS!" She started to walk out.

"Where are you going?" Lester demanded.

"Anomaly's NOT going to be happy with what you've done. Once she breaks out of there, she's going to find her Florlics and go home." Her eyes were dark. "And I'm going to have a talk to her."

Lester snorted. "Fine. If that's what you think."

Everyone looked at him, as though they wanted to say something but were unsure what.

Abby turned to the others. "Anyone else coming?"

There was silence for a moment. Finally, Connor stepped foreword. "I'm in."

Steven came foreword. "Same here."

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Not my area, but why not?"

Cutter was the last, though not by choice. "Let's go."

Abby nodded, and all of them started to walk out.

"What?" Lester demanded. "I did what I had to!"

"NO!" Abby snarled. "You didn't HAVE to, Lester."

Lester was left alone. The silence greeted him as the ARC itself seemed to turn its back on him and what he saw as sense.

* * *

Everyone waited.

Abby was sure Anomaly would return here. She'd opened an anomaly here, presumably to her time, why wouldn't she come back?

Her suspicious were correct. Anomaly emerged with four Florlics following.

She stopped in front of them.

"I suppose you hate us." Abby said quietly.

Anomaly shook her head. "I have no doubt you knew nothing of the matter. I personally blame Lester."

Connor shrugged. "He's not always this bad."

Anomaly sighed, but ignored him. "So. Do you have a plan?"

Abby looked at her. "We were hoping you would help there."

Anomaly smiled. "I don't want you getting involved in my fights."

Abby looked at the others, who nodded slowly. "It doesn't matter, Anomaly. We want to help. With anything. Anything at all."

Anomaly looked at them, and they all nodded. "Anything." Connor repeated.

Anomaly smiled. "Thank you." But the look in her eyes said much more.


	16. Revenge and Family

"You think it will work?"

Anomaly shrugged. "No reason it shouldn't. So long as Kierto keeps his mouth shut."

"And why would he?" Jenny looked at her.

She shrugged again. "I… had a little talk to him. He might actually be one of the good guys now."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "I doubt it."

Anomaly glared at her. "Look, JENNY. I can still arrange a one-way trip home. All you have to do is ASK."

Jenny looked at her for a minute, then sighed. "All right. I'm sorry."

Anomaly nodded, the incident already forgotten.

Steven looked at the paintbrush in her hand. "Is this really necessary?"

Connor smiled. "I think it'll be cool."

Anomaly smiled as well. "I'm sorry, Steven. But it IS necessary. My people are a little… scared by those in other cities."

Steven sighed. "I'm closing my eyes." He muttered.

Anomaly looked at him. "Just give me your arm."

The dye was convincing. When Anomaly was finished, Steven had a pattern of sharp points decorating his arm. Anomaly smiled. "That should do it." She turned to Connor. "Con?"

Connor stepped forward. "You need yours on your face. Arm patterns are rare, but I thought Steven needed some sense of dignity." She smiled.

Connor closed his eyes. He found it hard to keep from laughing as Anomaly painted the blue substance across his face.

His pattern was simpler than Steven's, but covered more space. Half of his face was completely blue, cut off in a wavy line down the center. The other eye had a circle around it.

Jenny's was more delicate. A faint pattern made of small lines, forming a more intricate shape. It went up her right cheek and around her eye to her forehead, like small ribbons dancing in a breeze.

Abby's was similar to Anomaly's. An intricate, swirling pattern that went around her eye and diagonally upwards. However, her other eye was also covered, in a design that spiked outwards around it.

Cutter's covered his entire cheek, under his left eye, but curved upwards on the side of his eye. It traveled down to his chin and ended in a simple, curved line.

In short, everyone had changed.

Anomaly smiled and put down the brush. "I'm sorry about that." She shrugged. "You wanted to get involved."

Abby nodded. "I don't mind it." She said with a smile.

Anomaly's smile widened. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She disappeared in a blur of speed.

She returned a few minutes later. "You'll need these."

She unwrapped the cloth, and inside, seven sharp, gleaming silver knives shone out. Three had jeweled handles. The other four were simple, but looked completely lethal.

Anomaly smiled darkly. "I collected these over the years. I figured they'd be useful." She held them out for the others.

Steven took one without blinking. Abby and Jenny each took a jeweled knife, and Anomaly took the third, handing her own to Connor with a smile.

"It's the smallest." She explained. "I think you'll be able to use it better than I can."

Cutter pulled out one for himself, looked at it for a moment, then slid it into his belt.

"I don't think these are exactly company issue…" Jenny said.

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "Give me a break."

There was silence for a long time.

Finally, Abby spoke up. "Anomaly…" She sighed. "I don't want to ask you to do something you don't want to. But… if we're going to help, it may do some good to know what we're doing. What we're fighting for."

Anomaly looked down. "Connor?" She asked, her voice cracking.

Connor nodded slowly, then told everyone what Anomaly had told him, so long ago.

They all listened in stunned silence to Connor's account of the events that had unfolded in Anomaly's life. A single tear streaked down her face, and purple ink began to drip down from her pattern.

Abby's face paled. Steven's eyes widened with shock. Cutter listened in silence, taking in every detail. Jenny looked at Anomaly in horror. Anomaly sighed.

When Connor had finished, she picked up where he'd left off. "But it's more than that." She sighed. "I take it you want to know what happened when Sam died."

Everyone nodded slowly.

Anomaly sighed, cleared her throat, and began.

* * *

_"No… Sam…"_

_ Anomaly's mind barely registered the fact that Abby and Connor were now only a short distance away. Her eyes were locked on her brother, blood pouring from a wound on his back, and other wounds on his arms and face._

_ "I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"Sam whispered. "You were right. You were right…"_

_ Her eyes widened. "NO! SAM, NO!"_

_ His eyes landed on hers. "And you never forgave me?"_

_ Anomaly felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. "NO!" She protested. "Sam, I forgive you! Please, I forgive you!" She started to sob, uncontrollable tears streaking down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, so sorry…"_

_ Sam's eyes were beginning to glaze over. "What's happening to me?" He asked; panic edging his voice, terror seeping into his face._

_ "Sam! SAM!" Anomaly was getting desperate. "NO! SAM! Don't die! Don't die…" Her words broke off into sobs, her heart scattered into shards of fragile glass against the floor. _

_ A light, sad smile drifted across her brother's lips. "You forgive me…"_

_ His eyes glazed over, and his head fell limp into her arms. Anomaly began to sob harder, not caring that his blood was seeping into her shirt, dyeing her skin red. _

_ She lifted her eyes away from Sam's body, her eyes blazing with hatred. She stood up, gently laying Sam's head on the ground. She walked the short distance to where the anomaly was, the one that led back home._

_ "You can't run." She said darkly. "You can't hide. There is no place in the whole of time and space where you can be safe from me."_

_ She stretched her hand out, in a fist, before opening it, the anomaly shimmering in the palm of her hand._

_ "SO HEAR ME NOW!" She cried. "You killed my BROTHER!" Her eyes darkened. "Now I'm coming for YOU."_

_ "And you can no hide. You can not run. You can do nothing. I will find you, wherever you are. I will do whatever it takes! If I have to follow you through the whole of time and space!"_

_ "THROUGH TIME AND THROUGH SPACE!" The war cry made the anomaly shimmer and dance. It responded to her determination, to her fury, dancing around her. "THROUGH TIME AND THROUGH SPACE! THROUGH TIME AND THROUGH SPACE!"  
_

_ She cried the phrase over and over, until Abby came next to her and called out as well. Anomaly couldn't have been more grateful. She had someone else there. "TE TOLIO ETORA! THROUGH TIME AND THROUGH SPACE!"_

_ Even Connor joined after a minute, as the cry was sent through space and time to the one person it was meant for…_

* * *

"The Council Member." Connor clarified.

Anomaly swallowed. "Yes." She replied, her voice cracking. There was still one secret she could not share…

Everyone looked at her, the shock obvious in their faces.

Anomaly sighed, keeping her eyes locked on the floor.

"This is about REVENGE?" Jenny demanded.

Anomaly's eyes darkened. "This is about FAMILY." She corrected. "I told you that you didn't need to get into my business. Next time, maybe you'll LISTEN." She spat.

Jenny glared at her. "But you never SAID ANYTHING!" She snarled.

"HEY!" Abby stood in between them. "Look, Jenny. We agreed to help. And this man killed her brother. Now, I'm not too big on revenge either." She faced Anomaly. "But anyone who doesn't like it can go home. Understood?"

Jenny continued to glare at Anomaly for a moment, then nodded. "So long as no one gets hurt." She snapped.

Anomaly nodded. "No one but me. That's a promise."

Jenny's eyes narrowed, and she whirled around, walking away from her.

Anomaly sighed. "Thank you, Abby."

Abby nodded, and for a long time, there was silence.

* * *

The Council member smiled coldly. So, the Rouge Child wanted to meet him. Fine. But he wouldn't come alone.

He ran his foot over the sand, covering up her message. _Outside the wall. NOW._

He chuckled humorlessly. Rouge Child didn't seem to have time for subtlety. Fine.

"Kierto." He whispered. He was at the Council Member's side in an instant.

"Sir?"

He smiled darkly. "We have some business to take care of. Bring the guards."

Kierto nodded once, then disappeared.

* * *

Anomaly's eyes were dark as the Council Member came out from the walls.

He smiled darkly. "Artalis greets you, young one. Though it recalls your banishment well."

"Save me the speech." Anomaly spat. "I have no use for it."

He raised an eyebrow, glancing quickly at the others with her. "And these people are…?"

"Friends." Anomaly replied, then hurriedly translated for the people behind her. The language sounded… old.

He chuckled humorlessly. "I will not give you a second chance, Rouge Child."

"Spare me!" Anomaly snarled. "Spare me the speech, spare me the lies! I'm not listening to them, and nor should your men."

He smiled coldly. This should be good. "And why not?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. The council member found himself taking a step back in spite of everything. "You murdered my brother." She said darkly.

The Council Member shrugged, trying to blow it off as she continued to translate for those behind her. "He was trying to steal the Law Book. There had to be consequences."

"Consequences?" She asked, and a shiver ran down his spine. "CONSEQUENCES?" She demanded in a snarl. "Where are the CONSEQUENCES for YOUR actions, SIR?"

He smiled darkly. "But what actions of mine are so terrible, Rouge Child?"

"MY NAME IS ANOMALY!" She spat. "And you will treat it as such."

He rolled his eyes, and Anomaly's teeth locked together. He smiled. "You didn't answer my question."

Anomaly began to tick things off on her fingers. "You kept a cure for a plague hidden. You killed my brother in cold blood. You experimented on empaths. You changed the Law Book." Her eyes locked on his, dark shadows dancing in them. "Need I say more?"

He smirked. "These are false accusations, young one. Where is your proof?"

She smiled darkly. "Right here."

She stood to the side and two snarling Florlics came up from behind her. Their heads were held high, triumph radiating around them.

"Meet Setra and Nortor. Both victims of your cruelty." Her eyes locked on his. "Sir."

The Florlics growled deep in their throats at the sight of the council member.

His smile was smug, but he was obviously less sure of himself. "Florlics can't speak, Rouge Child. They can do you nothing."

She shook her head slowly. "Ah, but they can feel. Ask enough questions…" She smiled. "And you'll get your answers."

He smiled, but still looked a little weak. "I'm afraid that won't do you anything, Anomaly."

She glared at him. _You've figured it out. _Her eyes whispered. _You know who I am. And you're terrified._

She took a deep breath. "It's good enough for me."

He continued to smile as Anomaly started walking back and forth in front of him.

"But you see, sir, you killed my brother. You killed my FAMILY. That is one line…" She turned to face him. "You CANNOT cross."

He smirked. "It was your brother's fault."

Anomaly screeched, and a bolt of electricity sizzled the sand next to him, melting it into glass. "Don't EVEN GO THERE!" She spat. "NORTOANOMALY!"

He took a step back. Anomaly had promised, so long ago, that she would never again say his name.

But now, here she was, speaking the forbidden word. Which meant…

She'd figured it out. The Council Member's face paled, turning white in front of everyone. A knot planted itself in his stomach and in his throat.

She knew. She knew. Oh, no, she couldn't! But she did. She knew everything.

The Council Member took an involuntary step back. She knew everything. She would never have spoken if she didn't.

She knew everything. What his last name, Nortoanomaly, meant to her, meant to her entire family. What he was. She knew everything, impossible though it may seem. But then again, impossible was everyday. It didn't matter that he was years older than she was. Nothing mattered. She knew. SHE KNEW.

She knew that the Council Member, the man she despised with everything she was, the man she'd spent years fighting, the man who had taken everything from her, was her son.


	17. The Past and The Future

The Council Member's breath caught in his throat. His mother was standing in front of him, her eyes dark with fury and hate.

"Our family stinks, doesn't it?" She said, laughing darkly. "First Sam, now you."

"But you could never FORGIVE him." The Council Member snapped, desperate to maintain control. "What makes you any better?"

"I did forgive him." She snarled. "When he died in my arms, a wound in his back from YOUR knife." Her eyes were dark.

He rolled his eyes. "We've gone over this, Anomaly."

One of the people behind her, a young man with black hair and bright eyes, whispered something in Anomaly's ear, but she blew it off. The Council Member noticed that she'd stopped translating for the others.

"I don't really care WHO you are." She spat. "I just care about what you've DONE."

He snorted. "It's not as though you've done any better, Rouge!" He spat the words out. "If I recall, you LEFT. I was left ALONE in this place!"

Her eyes locked on his. "Is that why you had to banish me, sir? Because you figured it out? Because of what I do in the FUTURE?"

"You were banished for your crimes!" He spat.

She held up two fingers and indicated a direction away from the others. The classic symbol for 'we're talking alone NOW.'

The Council Member snarled and complied. Anomaly whispered a few words of the strange language to the others, assuring them that she would be all right, telling them to stay where they were.

Once alone, Anomaly glared at him. "What is it about you? Why do you hate me?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're in the way, MOTHER. Always in my way, always a pain, an obstacle!" he spat the words out.

She rolled her eyes, then looked at him. "I don't understand it. I really don't. Is it simply because of what I did in THIS time, or is it because of what I did to YOU?"

He rolled his eyes. "Please. I'm not that shallow."

She snorted. "Could have fooled me."

He snarled, electricity dancing on his knife. "Silence. You have no right to speak to a member of the council in that manner."

She sighed, and again her eyes rolled up to the sky. "Seriously? I'm your MOTHER. I can do whatever I like."

"YOU abandoned me." He spat. "You forfeited that right."

"I did nothing of the sort." Her eyes locked onto his, and he froze. "I was right. It IS because of what I do in the future."

He snarled. "I should never have had a mother who was this WEAK." He spat. "I am the strongest ruler this city has ever known! And what of my heritage?" He glared at Anomaly with disgust. "I'm YOUR son. The son of a common criminal!"

"Who has the greater crimes?" Anomaly asked in a soft voice.

"YOU." He replied without hesitation. "A mother leaving her son is the greatest crime of all."

"I don't disagree." Anomaly whispered delicately, as though she would shatter if someone touched her.

"You LEFT!" He screeched. "YOU LEFT AND I…" He trailed off suddenly, realizing what she'd said. "What?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"I agree completely." Anomaly's voice was no louder than his. "A mother leaving her son IS the worst crime in the world. So there had to be a REASON."

"I don't care about a REASON." He spat. "I care that I grew up ALONE."

Anomaly sighed. "There is more to this than you and I. We have both brought our war to everyone else. Including Sam." Her eyes locked on his. "You murdered your own uncle."

He shrugged. "Murder is murder. Sam was in the way."

She snarled. "I can't believe you're my SON." She spat. "And you call ME the criminal!"

He snorted. "Look at you, Anomaly." He replied. "Ready to kill your own son."

She smiled darkly. "Who said I'd kill you?"

"THIS." He hissed, yanking up his shirt sleeve to reveal a small circle of a pattern, a black anomaly decorating it.

She smiled. "That is my cry, sir. Not my death sentence."

He glared at her. "This can never be over, Anomaly. We're worlds apart."

"And yet, we're family." Anomaly spat. "And you can't choose your family."

He snarled and began to walk away. "I can choose not to listen to them. Get out of here. NOW. And I'll spare your life."

Anomaly snorted. "You kill me and you kill yourself."

He whirled around to face her. "Get out NOW, and I'll spare THEIR lives." He spat, pointing to the ARC team.

Anomaly glared at him. "You have no choice, SIR." She started walking towards the others. "I'll be back."

He nodded slowly, and Anomaly instructed the others to follow her. Slowly, they disappeared into the distance.

* * *

"I'm just saying. If you want us to help, you could at least tell us what's HAPPENING."

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "It's need to know, Jenny. I think you of all people should appreciate THAT."

Jenny snorted. "Please. We more than qualify for that."

Anomaly chuckled softly. "No offence, Jenny, but you don't."

Jenny glared at her. "I just want to know what HAPPENED."

Anomaly glared back, flames dancing in her eyes. "But I don't WANT you to know." She growled. "Now DROP IT."

Jenny, a little startled by the ferocity in Anomaly's eyes, took an involuntary step back. "What is it with you? You think that keeping all these things secret is a GOOD thing?"

Anomaly snarled inhumanly, and Jenny found herself flying backwards.

"You think you're so much BETTER!" Anomaly screeched, standing above her. "So much better than I am, simply because YOU haven't seen HALF of what I have!"

Jenny's eyes were wide, and she tried to struggle to her feet.

Anomaly's eyes locked on hers. "You can't understand, you could NEVER understand!"

Jenny managed to stand up, and Anomaly grabbed her by the collar. "Stop. While you're ahead."

She dropped Jenny, then turned around and walked away.

* * *

"So. The rumors are true."

Anomaly didn't face her son. "Yes." She replied, her voice barely a whisper.

He came up next to her. "You've held on for a year, I'm told."

Anomaly nodded, this time looking at him. "Correct."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you never thought to ask anyone for help? Face it Anomaly, impossible you may be, but not even you can replace that." He gently brushed a finger across her pattern, and purple ink stained his fingers.

She glared at him. "You think anyone would HELP me? You've turned the entire city of Artalis against me. I'm a MONSTER in their eyes." Pain washed through her, visible in her face.

He sighed. "I'm not going to say I'm sorry, mother. I'm not."

She looked at him. "I know that." Her eyes locked on his. "And I'm not going to forgive you. You killed my BROTHER. Family is something you can NEVER get over."

He sighed. "I know that."

There was silence. The snap of a branch sent them on high alert.

"CONNOR!" Anomaly spat. "Get out here!"

The Council Member listened to her words, though he couldn't make sense of them. A young man, with dark hair and a large pattern, stepped out of the trees. "Hi." He whispered sheepishly.

Anomaly glared at him. "You. Are. In. BIG. Trouble." She snarled. "What did you HEAR?"

Connor shrugged. "Nothing. It sounded like gibberish to me."

Anomaly took a few deep breaths, trying to keep calm. "All right. Go back to the others." Her eyes locked on his, and she spoke through her teeth. "We'll talk later."

Connor looked like the picture of a young boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He hung his head and started to walk away.

"Wait!" The Council Member called. He turned to his mother. "Who is he?"

Anomaly kept her eyes on Connor. "A friend." She replied simply.

The Council Member kept his eyes locked on Connor. "I know you…" He whispered.

Anomaly looked at her son. "You do?" She turned to Connor and hurriedly translated.

The Council Member nodded. "I don't know where…"

She turned to her son and sighed. "Probably from me." She turned back to Connor. "There may be more that's connected here than we thought."

* * *

Connor looked into the green-blue flames sheepishly, avoiding Anomaly's sharp gaze.

"Jenny told me to find you." He finally said, his voice a whimper.

Anomaly rolled her eyes. "Drop it, Con. It's ok. It's not like you heard anything."

He nodded furiously. "Nothing but gibberish, like I said!"

Anomaly sighed. "Good."

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Anomaly whirled around, on her feet in a split-second.

She sighed as Kierto smiled at her. "What is it?"

Kierto looked at her for a long time. Finally, he replied. "Nothing, Anomaly. Just…" he sighed. "We need to talk."

* * *

"He grew up fast, didn't he?"

Kierto nodded slowly as they walked together, side by side, hidden in the trees. Trees were rare here, they were lucky to have found them. If anything, they kept away the watchful eyes of the council.

"You know?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Anomaly shrugged. "Not too difficult to figure out." She whispered kindly. She looked at him. "Did he?"

Kierto sighed and nodded again. "He did." He smiled sadly. "It's a shame you never saw it."

Anomaly swallowed. "What… what did I tell you? I mean, what did I say when I… when I left?"

Kierto sighed through his nose. "You didn't want to leave, Anomaly. It broke your heart leaving your son behind." He looked down.

Anomaly sighed as well. "Then why, Kierto? Why did I do it?"

He looked at her, tears flowing slowly down his cheeks. "Because you HAD to. You said that the universe couldn't handle you being there, not at that time." His eyes were glazed, distant, lost in some past best forgotten.

Anomaly looked back. "I'm so sorry, Kierto. Truly I am."

Kierto brushed it off with the wave of a hand. "It's fine, Anomaly. You did what you had to. For the good of the universe."

She sighed. "It doesn't always seem that way. I mean, first my son, and now you." She shook her head. "These things can be pretty confusing."

Kierto smiled. "Especially if you're only fourteen." He sighed. "Anomaly, you have to face things no one's had to face. What you've been through…" He whistled. "No one should go through that."

Anomaly shrugged. "But no one should go through what HE had to go through." She looked down. "I'm not exactly the best mother."

Kierto went in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. "Anomaly…There was NOTHING you could do. Time did what time must always do. Time doesn't care who you are. It just cares about what's best for it."

Anomaly sighed. "I know that. But I still wish…"

Kierto raised a hand, cutting her off. "There was NOTHING, Anomaly. Nothing at all that you could do for him. He became who he was supposed to become. And you did what you were supposed to do."

Anomaly looked down. "But sometimes it seems there are stronger laws in place than the laws of time, Kierto. Like the laws of my conscience. I've betrayed laws before. The council's laws. And no one else has ever gone against the council." She smiled darkly. "So going against time is the same, no?"

Kierto shook his head fiercely. "There are harsher consequences, Anomaly. You saw what happened to Claudia. Imagine that, only a million times worse. Imagine explosions so huge it will make the one you created at the clinic look like child's play." His bright green eyes locked on hers. "You can't go against time."

Anomaly tried to stare him down for a minute, but gave up. She sighed. "I know, Kierto. I know. But… I'm his MOTHER. And I can't just… leave him!"

Kierto sighed. "You will come back for him. I have no doubt you will."

Anomaly smiled softly. "Thank you."

Kierto smiled as well. "I missed you too, Anomaly. He wasn't the only one."

Her smile widened. "I know."


	18. Saying Goodbye

"Umm… Con?"

Connor turned his head and looked up at Abby. Concern was filling her face. "Can I… can I talk to you?" her voice cracked.

Connor nodded and gestured to the space next to him. She sat down. For a while, there was silence.

When Anomaly had come back, Connor had separated himself from the others. He was still embarrassed about being caught eavesdropping, though it could hardly be called that.

He sighed and looked at the cold, blue and green flames dancing in front of him. He'd taken a branch from the fire the others were sitting around and started his own. Anomaly had insisted he take it, saying it was too dangerous for him to do otherwise.

Abby was trying desperately to think of the words she needed to describe what she was feeling. Finally, she blurted it out. "Con, I have a feeling like… like I'm going to lose you."

He turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

She sighed and looked down, unable to look at him. "I… I can't shake this feeling that… that whatever happens… you're going to die."

Abby could feel his gaze burn into her. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. I know it sounds stupid, but…" She sighed and looked at the blue-green flames. "It's just… this place. It's so…"

"Creepy?" Connor guessed.

"I don't know. Maybe. It feels… like it's a part of time that we don't even understand. That we could never understand.

Connor nodded slowly. He'd been feeling the same way about this place since he'd gotten here. He looked back at the fire. "Yeah…"

She looked at him for a long time. Finally she spoke again. "Connor?"

He looked at her.

"If… if something happens, no matter what it is… I want you to know something."

His expression grew puzzled.

Abby came a little closer. "Connor… I… I… I don't know how to say this…"

He kept his eyes locked on hers.

She looked at him for a long time, then closed her eyes and brought her lips to his.

Connor froze. His thoughts were racing. A million questions fired off in his mind, and were answered just as suddenly as he realized one simple little truth.

_She loves me!_

He found himself kissing her back. His heart was pounding.

_She loves me!_

He could hear the others, not quite as far away as he'd thought. Cutter and Steven were chuckling. Jenny was having a bit of a fit about how she 'hoped Lester didn't hear about this.' But he didn't care. None of that mattered. Only one thing mattered.

_She loves me!_

After a moment, Abby broke away, smiling shyly. It wasn't like her to be shy.

Connor swallowed. "Umm… wow." He whispered weakly.

Abby's smile widened. "Make sense yet?" She whispered in reply.

Connor nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

She looked at him for a long time, and they sat in silence.

Finally, he spoke up. "Abby?"

"Yeah?"

He looked at her. "I love you too." He whispered softly.

She smiled and turned back to the fire.

* * *

Jenny sighed, frustration filling her face. "Well. That's a violation of about a million codes."

"Do you think about ANYTHING else?" Cutter joked.

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Of course. But that doesn't excuse…"

Cutter sighed and cut her off. "We're years into the future. We're facing a city who knows this land far better than we do, and they're far more experienced at fighting, especially in this terrain. Don't tell me you wouldn't want to say goodbye."

"Goodbye is fine." Jenny replied. "But we could still get back, and that could get them into enough trouble to…"

Cutter interrupted her again. "They just want to clear things up. Wouldn't you like to know something like that before going into a situation like ours?" His eyes gained a playful twinkle.

Jenny sighed, but Cutter didn't give her a chance to respond. He moved closer, closed his eyes and kissed her.

Steven's eyes widened. This time, Anomaly chuckled.

Shock filled Jenny. But she was more shocked when she found herself kissing him back.

When Cutter broke away, Jenny looked at him with wide eyes. Desperate to remain some image of being calm, she cleared her throat and sat down, forcing her face to go blank.

* * *

"The odds aren't THAT bad." Steven growled.

Anomaly chuckled. "Don't tell them that."

He sighed. "Why does everyone have to become all emotional just because there's something like this going on?"

"Because they don't face this every day." Anomaly replied. Her eyes had suddenly aged, and she seemed much older than she should be. "You and I, Steven, we're different. We're the soldiers, the ones who are always ready for the battle because the battle has always been ready for us. We're used to this." Her eyes softened. "They aren't."

Steven looked at her. "We have no chance, do we?"

"Five humans, and one future human, against an army of anomaly-and-technology-controlling future humans?" She looked at him. "You tell me."

Steven sighed. "I figured as much." He pulled out his gun and loaded it.

"I thought I told you to leave that behind."

He shrugged. "Like you said, Anomaly. We're soldiers. Would you go anywhere without your knife?"

Anomaly smiled. "You're learning."

There was silence for a long time. Finally, Steven spoke up. "What are you thinking?"

Anomaly looked down. "I'm wishing I was more like them." She replied, gesturing to where Abby and Connor were sitting next to each other, Connor's arm around Abby's shoulders. "They don't know anything about fighting, about battles. I've been fighting since I was born." Her eyes locked on Steven's. "I never had a choice."

Steven nodded slowly. "I guess I can understand that." He sighed.

Anomaly looked at the fire. "I also think it's going to get a whole lot worse."

**A/N: Sorry about the short chapter, and about how long it took to get it up here. The next chapter should be longer, and it should take less time. **


	19. Sunrise Of Another Time

"Connor." Anomaly hissed.

Connor groaned softly, wishing she would go away. "Five more minutes…" He murmured sleepily.

Anomaly punched him in the shoulder. "No, Con. Now."

"Ow!" He complained. "All right, I'm up, I'm up!" He rubbed his shoulder.

Anomaly grinned. "I want to show you something."

"Before the sun is out?" Connor demanded. "Real thrilling. Wake me when the sane people are up, k?"

She punched him again.

"OW!"

"C'mon, Con! Please?" Her voice pleaded with him.

Connor sighed and sat up. He could hardly refuse, even if she hadn't just punched him in the shoulder. "Fine." He gave in grudgingly.

"Great!" Anomaly leapt to her feet, her movement so fast she was barely a blur. "I'll go get Abby!"

"She's coming too?" Connor asked, panic filling his voice. But Anomaly was already gone.

He sighed and pulled himself out of the makeshift bed. It was surprising how cold it was out here night, not to mention how hard the seemingly soft sand was.

When he was finally completely awake, Anomaly returned, Abby yawning and following.

Connor smiled at Abby, and she smiled back. It was hard to see it in the dark, but it was there.

Anomaly grinned and motioned for them to follow her. They did as she asked.

They walked in silence. Connor hoped it wouldn't be too far, and thankfully got his wish.

They stood on the edge of the cliff for what seemed like forever. Connor sighed. "What's up here?"

Anomaly shushed him. "Just wait."

He glared at her for a moment, then continued to wait.

It didn't take too long. A few minutes later, Connor saw ac faint brush of light dancing across the landscape. Slowly, the sun began to rise, and Connor was able to see once more.

He gasped.

The sunrise from his time, always such a perfect picture, meant for artists and poets and writers, was nothing compared to this. Colors danced and flashed across the sky, streaking the air with their brilliant light. Purple and blue radiated away from the orange sun, pink flashing above.

And, there, was the landscape itself.

During the day, it was nothing but sand, the cold desert that seemed to hold your very mind in its grip.

But now, it was a sea of color and light. The sunrise reflected against every grain of sand, casting beautiful colors across the land and sky, a picture so perfect there were no true words to describe it. Even the shadows, though they were few, were incredibly beautiful, reflecting the colors in the light much like the reflections in the bottom of a pool.

Abby's breath was similarly taken away. She pulled her eyes away from the sight to look at Connor.

He looked back at her.

Forgetting that Anomaly was there, Abby came closer to Connor. He put his arm around her, and she brought her lips to his.

When she broke off, she was still in his arms. Anomaly had turned away politely, pretending like she hadn't seen anything.

If only they'd seen her face. If only they could have seen the darkness in her eyes, the tears streaming down her face. Maybe they could have guessed what she was planning.

But maybe they couldn't.

Abby and Connor looked at the landscape, their eyes filled with wonder. They hadn't realized how close to the edge they'd gotten.

Anomaly snuck behind them, unnoticed. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.

She took two steps towards them. She didn't dare hesitate. She placed one hand on Connor's shoulder, and the other on Abby's.

And she pushed them over the edge of the cliff.

* * *

Connor hadn't really noticed Anomaly behind him. He hadn't heard his whispered words.

And he hadn't expected her to be so _strong. _

Her hand was firm and solid, a force that was impossible to resist as it sent him over the edge.

He could feel nothing but the rush of wind as he fell, the terror gripping his heart like ice. He'd let go of Abby, and despair flooded through him as he saw her falling next to him.

He tried to cry out, but his voice was taken by the fierce wind.

And then he felt Abby's hand in his. She looked at him. There was panic in her eyes. They could never survive this fall. There was no way.

A stronger instinct than self-perseveration flooded through him. An instinct to protect her, to make her feel safe, even when she wasn't. He held her hand tightly as they fell, the wind whipping against them, faster and faster as the ground grew closer and closer…

* * *

"Abby and Connor fell!"

Steven was on his feet in a second. "What? What do you mean, they fell?"

Anomaly's eyes were wide with panic. "Off a cliff!" She replied. "I was showing them the sunrise, and Connor slipped… Abby tried to help him, but…" Tears filled her eyes. Guilt was written on her face. She was the one who had taken them there in the first place…

Steven ran to her side. "Where?" he demanded.

Cutter and Jenny came up next to Anomaly. Steven tried to tell them what had happened, but Cutter cut him off. "She told us." He replied. Panic filled his eyes.

"This way!" Anomaly called. She took off; taking care to make sure they could follow her.

When they got to the cliff, Anomaly looked down. "There!" She told them.

Steven, Jenny, and Cutter all looked. Anomaly stepped behind them to let them see.

"I can't see anything!" Jenny cried.

"Exactly." Anomaly replied. Her voice had darkened. She was suddenly at Steven's side. "Sorry, solider." She whispered.

And she pushed him off.

Jenny whirled to face her, eyes wide in horror, but Anomaly was already right next to her.

Jenny found herself falling.

Anomaly looked at Cutter for a long time. His stare challenged her to try and do the same to him.

"What can you do?" She asked. Her voice wasn't hard, it was mournful, as though she didn't want this to happen.

And she pushed him off.

**A/N: Ok, so I was wrong about making it longer, but at least it took less time! The next one will be longer, I PROMISE. But I had to end it here, it was way too perfect. **


	20. Free Fall

"Don't give me that." Anomaly was saying to her Florlics. "They're safe now. They can't get hurt."

Kesea growled, low in her throat. Anger pulsed off of her in waves.

Anomaly whirled on the winged dog. "I did what I had to!" She cried. Tears filled her eyes. "Do you really think I WANTED to do that?"

Kesea took a small, startled step back. She nodded slowly, acknowledging the truth in Anomaly's words.

Anomaly turned around and began walking again.

Kesea looked at Ikesa. He let out a long, breathy sigh. The Guard whimpered. Ferakesa did the same, turning to Ikesa for answers. He was, after all, the leader of the pack, excluding Anomaly.

Ikesa just followed Anomaly.

The others padded after him. Though no human had realized, all of the Florlics knew. Anomaly was a person with a broken past. She had the battle in her heart, hate looming like a dark shadow, dancing across her mind. There were never any other emotions, just hate, sorrow, fear, and betrayal. The worst emotions in the world. And she'd felt nothing but those emotions for SIX YEARS.

And then she'd found the ARC.

Connor, Abby, Jenny, Cutter and Steven, though they hadn't known it, had brought her out from where no one should go. They had found the smallest light in the storm. They had brightened it, chasing the shadows of her dark past away. They had done more for Anomaly then they could ever have imagined.

How could Anomaly allow them to get her in HER war?

* * *

Connor didn't know what happened. One moment, he was falling.

The next, he'd landed.

"Ooof!" he cried out as he landed on his back. He should have been falling for longer.

More importantly, he should be dead.

Abby landed next to him, and Connor, desperate to make sure she was all right, cracked open his eyes.

The flickering light of an anomaly danced before his eyes, before closing quickly.

Connor turned to Abby. "You ok?" He asked, anxiety filling his voice.

Abby nodded, swallowing, her face pale. "I'm fine." Her voice cracked. "You?"

Connor nodded, looking around him. "What happened?"

Abby struggled to her feet before helping him up. "I don't know." Her eyes were still wide with fear.

Connor swallowed as he suddenly realized where they were. "Abby…"

"What?"

He pointed to something behind her. She turned to face it.

It was the ADD.

They were in the ARC.

* * *

_I'm dying! _

The thought hit Jenny like a wave. _But I can't DIE. I have a life ahead of me…_

Tears streaked down her face, and she tried to cry out. The wind swallowed her words hungrily.

She saw Cutter fall from the edge.

_Fall? _She thought bitterly. _Pushed, more like._

Hate seared through her, so strong it was almost painful. How could Anomaly betray them like that? After everything they'd done for her! They'd come to this time, allowed her to paint their faces so they'd blend in, been prepared to help with anything! How could she just IGNORE that and send them over a cliff?

_He loves me._

The thought struck her, coming from no where. _Cutter kissed me. Does he love me? How can he love me? Is it really me, or is it…_

_Claudia?_

The name rang in her mind._ Claudia. _The person she once was. _Claudia. _The person Cutter had fallen in love with. _CLAUDIA._

_Does he really love me? Or is he fooling himself, thinking that I'm Claudia?_

Her heart skipped. She was going to die. She was going to die without ever knowing if Cutter truly loved her.

_What a way to live your life. _She thought bitterly. _I don't even know who I am anymore…_

Suddenly, she landed.

It was a softer landing than she'd expected. She winced, and tried not to move, thinking that if she was still alive, she'd at least broken a few bones. But no, she was fine. Slowly, she got to her feet.

"Jenny!" Abby's relieved voice sounded out. Jenny looked towards her and saw Connor and Steven waiting.

Steven pulled her out of the way just as Cutter fell into the same spot Jenny had been.

Cutter's eyes closed. "Ow."

Jenny smiled. _His hair is all messed up. _It was the first thing she thought of. Of course his hair was messed up. _It looks good on him. _Her thought continued, and she allowed a small smile to cross her face.

She helped Cutter to his feet. "You ok?" She asked.

Cutter brushed himself off. "Fine, surprisingly. I mean, considering the height of that cliff…" He looked up. "Oh."

Above them, shining and flickering, was an anomaly. After a moment, it closed.

"That explains it, then." Cutter said with a sigh.

"Explains what?" Connor asked.

"Anomaly saved us." Cutter replied. "There was never any danger. She just needed to get us back to the ARC."

"Why?" The question slipped from Jenny's lips.

"I don't know." Cutter sighed. "Maybe… maybe she just had to fight her own battles."

"But what happened?" Connor spoke up again.

"The anomaly was there when we fell. We came through it, and landed here. Simple enough."

Jenny looked at him. "And what about Anomaly?"

Cutter sighed. "It's up to her now."

* * *

Anomaly stared out across the large area of desert. The Council Member looked back at her, a smirk on his face.

"Give up now, Anomaly. While you still have a chance."

She chuckled darkly. "You don't know me very well if you think I actually would."

He smiled. "There are only so many ways this can end up. And all of them involve you either dead or in prison." He shrugged. "Your choice."

Anomaly laughed, an unnamable darkness and hate in her eyes. "You can't kill me, SIR. You'll die as well."

He chuckled. "But your greatest fear is a cage. Give up now, and I promise I'll go easy on you."

Electricity flew from her hand and melted the sand next to him. "I'd sooner die." She spat.

He smirked. "Then your decision is made." He motioned to the guards.

* * *

"We can't just LEAVE her!" Connor was getting frustrated.

"THIS is what she WANTED." Lester hissed.

"I don't care! We'd be fine, if we could just HELP!"

"He's right." Steven spoke at last.

"WHAT?" Lester roared. "You can't be SERIOUS!"

"I'm deadly serious." Steven's eyes were hard as he glared at Lester. "She is facing an ARMY. We can't just leave her to die."

"I'm afraid we can, and we MUST. There is no way we can reach her. And that's FINAL!"

* * *

The Council Member had to give Anomaly credit. She had tried so hard, had fought so well, had taken down half the army before she'd finally been captured.

"I'll get out of here, you know." She hissed. Her Florlics were in cages next to her, low growls unceasing in their throats.

He smiled. "I doubt it." He replied coldly.

She looked at him for a long time, then sat down. "It's not as though I've never been a prisoner. I was in a cage my whole life. A huge cage, covered with sand…" her eyes glazed over.

The Florlics stopped growling.

The Council member didn't like the look on her face. He swallowed and walked out of the room, leaving Anomaly to her dark memories.

As soon as he'd left, Anomaly smirked. She knew more than one way to make a person scared.

And she knew more than one way out of a cage.

Her smile widened. "Ikesa! Norklo marta!"

The Florlic obeyed, pawing at Kesea's collar. He had been wondering why Anomaly put it there in the first place, but he wasn't about to question her. It wasn't like he could, anyway.

Finally, the collar was on the ground. He nosed it over to Anomaly's prison. She grinned and took it off the ground. She popped open the hidden packet in the leather, and pulled out the tiny chip.

She attached it to the lock, tapped her pattern once, and the chip exploded.

The Florlic's yelped in pain.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She shook her head, trying to clear away _her _pain that had hurt the Florlics in the first place. "It'll be ok."

She pushed the door, which swung open without problem.

"Now for the guards." She whispered, a dark smile crossing her face. Her hands sparkled with electricity.

* * *

The Florlics came in first. The Council Member identified them immediately as Anomaly's, though he knew that was impossible.

And then came Anomaly herself.

Her eyes were blazing with a cold fury. Many of those surrounding drew their knives with a snarl, but Anomaly held up a hand, holding a chip.

"I'm a bomb!" She screeched.

Everyone froze.

She chuckled darkly. "That got your attention, didn't it? Yeah, I'm a bomb, and I'm set to explode if you come a single step _closer!_" Her eyes locked on her son's. "Now. I will speak to one person, and one person only."

The Council Member stepped forward with a sigh.

She smiled. "You always think you're the important one. Unfortunately, that _is _the case this time." She sighed.

"What do you want, Anomaly?"

She grinned. "I want you to listen and listen carefully." She sighed again. "I sent the others away for a reason. And that reason is…" She looked down. "We're all going to die. I'm not planning on making it out of here alive. I never did. I plan on destroying the place."

She looked at the others. "Out. This is a family matter."

They turned to the Council Member, who nodded once, briefly.

Everyone ran. Every single one of them.

Except Kierto.

"If this is a family matter, Anomaly, then I more than qualify." He told her.

"I don't want you to die." She whispered.

"It doesn't matter. If you die here, than I never meet you." He sighed. "And I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without you, Anomaly."

Tears pricked Anomaly's eyes. "Oh, Kierto…"

But Anomaly didn't get to do what she'd planned. Because at that moment, two anomalies appeared in the room, one on either side.

Connor, Abby, Cutter, Jenny, Steven, and Lester came from one.

"Told you I could do it!" Connor shouted triumphantly.

Anomaly paled.

But, at the other end of the room, where the other anomaly was open, someone else came in. She had metallic blue eyes, short blonde hair, and a metallic blue pattern surrounding her eye. She had a brilliant smile as she looked around the room, holding an air of grace and brilliance, like a person of royalty.

"Hello!" The older version of Anomaly said as she turned first to Kierto, then to her son. "Miss me?"


	21. Loyal One

The Council Member looked at the future version of Anomaly with wide eyes. "Mom?"

On the other side of the room, Connor gasped.

The older Anomaly's brilliant eyes locked on him, nodding approvingly. "Very good, Connor Temple."

Abby looked at Connor. "What did he say? Con? What did he say?"

Connor looked at Abby, his eyes wide. "He called her…" He pointed to both Anomalys. "_Mom_."

Gasps filled the air.

"He said it in English." Connor's eyebrows twisted in confusion. "Why didn't you hear it?"

Lester rolled his eyes. "_That _wasn't English."

Connor turned to the older Anomaly, who smiled. "Only you can understand."

He stepped forward, all eyes on him. "Why?"

The fourteen-year-old Anomaly raised an eyebrow. "He's not _speaking_ English."

The older version beamed and shook her head. "No."

"He… he can speak our language?" The Council member swallowed.

The older Anomaly's eyes locked on his. "Yes. He can."

He swallowed again and hung his head, unable to meet her gaze.

The older version of Anomaly came over to her past self, carefully laying her hand on the teenager's. "You don't need that anymore." She gently took the chip from her hands.

Anomaly looked at herself. A single tear fell from her metallic blue eyes. "I just wanted it to be over." She whispered.

The older Anomaly smiled softly. "The very fact that I am here proves that this will end eventually. Like all bad things, there is some good."

She gestured to the ARC team. "How else would you have met them?" She pointed to Kierto. "How else would you have known that you would fall in love?"

Kierto smiled. "It's been too long, Anomaly."

The older Anomaly stepped up next to her husband. "Far too long." She agreed, wrapping her arms around him.

Connor paled. "You two are… _together?_"

Both Anomalys laughed. "Of course, Connor." The older one said. "How else would I have a son?" She gestured to the Council Member.

Connor turned to the teenager. "And you _knew?_"

She sighed. "Connor, I know too much about my future. You think _this _would be hidden from me?"

"But _how? _How can he be your husband? He's years older than you!"

Kierto laughed. "Right now."

"It's complicated, Con." The older Anomaly told him. "That's why I'm here. To show you." She extended a hand.

Connor looked at her. Over the years, something had changed about Anomaly. Her metallic blue eyes had always been cold, hard, full of hate and fear. Now, they held an air of royalty, grace, dignity. Her scars, which had always made her seem like a battle-weary solider, coming home from a dark and horrible war, now made her look strong, prepared for anything.

And, the most important thing, she didn't look so _sad. _

Anomaly had always been a depressing case. But this woman in front of him was smiling, beautiful and happy in every respect.

Carefully, slowly, he reached out to take her hand. He gave the rest of the ARC team a long look.

"Don't worry." The older Anomaly assured him. "You'll come back."

He sighed and took her hand.

She smiled and led him through the very anomaly she'd originally come through.

And the world disappeared around him.

* * *

"That's him?" Connor's voice was as quiet as a whisper as he looked at the small child.

Anomaly smiled and nodded. "That's my son."

The little boy looked up, a strange and amazing pattern decorating his face. His tiny eyebrows twisted in confusion. "Mommy? Who's he?" He pointed one small finger at Connor.

Anomaly smiled. "It's all right, Arklio. He's a friend."

The child smiled happily and nodded, turning back to the floor where he was stacking rocks.

"Arklio?" Connor turned to Anomaly as his mind translated the word. "_Loyal one?_"

Anomaly nodded. "Yes." She turned to him. "Why do you think I never said his name?"

His eyes widened. "Oh…" There was so much he wanted to say, so much to ask, but he could say no more than that.

She sighed. "It seemed to me that someone who betrayed the trust of creatures like the Loch Ness and Florlics, not to mention the trust of the _people _as he lied day after day, wasn't exactly worthy of the name Arklio."

He looked at her. "And what's your name?" He asked, hoping against all hope that she didn't get too angry, despite how the past version of her would react.

But Anomaly just closed her eyes and swallowed. "Artalia."

He swallowed. "Artalia… _Artalis._" The realization lit his eyes up.

She nodded. "My parents didn't name me after themselves. They named me after my city." She sighed deeply.

He said nothing. The cold look of her childhood had entered her metallic blue eyes. A single tear found its way down her cheek. She shook it off and turned to him again. "But I lived a life, Con. I had survived."

At that point, a young man with a pattern on his arm entered the room. His eyes widened. "Anomaly?" He asked.

She smiled. "I told you about this, Kierto."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh. _That._" He sighed. "Very well." He waved to Connor. "Hello."

Connor waved back. "Hi."

Anomaly beamed. "I told Kierto everything after we got married." She informed Connor. "He took it well. He wasn't even mad that I kept it from him. He knew I had secrets I just couldn't share." She turned back to the anomaly and held her hand out again. "Shall we?"

He nodded, too overwhelmed to speak.

And they went through the anomaly.

* * *

"Connor? What happened?" Abby came up next to him.

"Too much." He replied in English. "I'll explain later."

"I'd prefer _now._" Lester snapped.

Connor sighed and rolled his eyes. Suddenly, everything seemed so… trivial. Perhaps Anomaly's personality was rubbing off on him. "Anomaly, the teenager, went back in time. She fell in love with Kierto at the same age, got married, had a life, and had a kid. That child became The Council Member, whose real name is Arklio." He gestured to the aforementioned Council Member. "He grew up and another child was born. That was Anomaly."

"I'm so confused." Jenny sighed.

Cutter smiled. "I'm not."

She glared at him.

He just grinned back.

"You may call me Artalia." The older Anomaly said. "I know my past self would never agree to that, and it would be easier for everyone to know the difference when they're speaking." She smiled.

Anomaly said nothing, a darkness in her eyes that indicated the truth in Artalia's words.

Arklio glared at Artalia. "Where were you?" He demanded. "When I was a child. Where did you go?"

She turned to face him, her metallic eyes cold. "I was coming here. That was the whole plan."

"Plan?" He snarled. "_Plan? _What do I _care _of your _plans?_" There was a deep desperation in his eyes, past the rage and hate. "You _left me!_"

Artalia looked at her son. She sighed deeply, tears pricking her eyes. "Say it."

* * *

"Istaria Fortalia!" Arklio screeched, knife in hand.

Connor gasped.

Abby looked at him. "What? What is it?"

Connor was pale. "He… he wants her to die."

Anomaly nodded. "Istaria Fortalia is a battle cry, Abby. It's a challenge. A duel to the death, so to speak."

Artalia pulled her knife out slowly. "Itrana, Arklio."

"Very well, Arklio." Connor translated.

Abby took a step back. "We can't let them kill each other!"

Anomaly stopped her from rushing towards the two. "No, Abby! Don't you see? This is _my _battle. It always has been."

Abby grabbed the teenager by the shoulders. "But I am your friend, Anomaly. And friends don't let friends kill their sons."

Anomaly's eyes were full of pain. "Who says I'm going to kill _him?_"

Abby took an involuntary step back. "No."

Anomaly nodded. "Yes."

"Anomaly, you can't let yourself _do this!_"

"Who says?" Anomaly demanded, her hand sparkling with electricity. "Who says I can't just get this over with? Who says I can't just _die already?_"

* * *

It was the hardest battle ever fought by Artalia.

Predators were little comparison to her son. Years of practice had sharpened his skill. He was faster than most people would have thought possible. His blade lashed out and she dodged, back and forth, disappearing in a lethal blur of blades and fury.

She leapt back, her lip bleeding, sweat pouring down her face. "Had enough?"

"_Never!" _He screeched. "You left me! You left me alone!" He raced at her again, blade glinting in the light.

She danced to the side. "Don't you get it? I had to! Or time would collapse, and we could _all _die!"

"_NO!_" He cried. "No! Nothing should be more important!" The blade whizzed by her throat, a hair's breadth away. "You always told me that nothing was more important to you than _me!_"

"It was true!" She cried, her blade locking with his. "I love you, Arklio!"

"No, Anomaly!" The fury of the battle raced through his veins, and the knife twisted around his mother's, forcing it away from her hand. He planted a kick in her chest, effectively cracking a rib and throwing her to the ground.

"NO!" Abby cried, trying to get away from Anomaly, who was holding her back.

But Arklio wasn't listening. He placed a foot on Artalia's chest and held the knife's point at her throat. He had bloody cuts on his face, deep red gashes on his arm.

But Artalia was no better. Her face was crimson with dark blood. She was panting heavily, blood and sweat covering her arms.

"But the worst part was learning about _her._" He gestured to Anomaly. "The fact that _my mother _was this… this _thing!_"

Anomaly swallowed. "Finish it, Arklio."

"_Silence!_" He roared. "You _never let me speak!_"

Artalia's eyes widened, shock filling her features.

"You never _talked to me!_" Arklio's face was filled with pain and hate. "You never _asked me!_ You never wanted me to know about this!" His knife pressed against her throat, causing a trickle of blood to flow. "You never _told me. _And _that's _why I hate you. Not because you left. Not because I thought you were a criminal." A single tear fell down his cheek. "Because you _lied to me._ You never _told me_ when you _should have._" He looked at her for a long time, taking his foot from her chest, but keeping his blade at her throat. "I would have been all right." He whispered. "I would have understood. But _you didn't tell me._"

Artalia looked at her son. "Oh, Arklio. I wish I could have."

"It's too late for wishes."

He raised the knife.

"Arklio, wait."

Arklio turned to Anomaly. It was the first time in six years that she'd ever called him by his name. Tears were in her eyes.

"Why should I?" He demanded.

"Because you were named for a reason, Loyal One." She pulled out her knife and set it on the ground. "And I believe I know that reason."

Connor hurriedly translated for everyone, and kept doing so.

Anomaly sighed. "I know what you're feeling. You place your complete trust in someone. You _are _loyal. You always will be." Her eyes closed. "I was the same way, once. Until something happened that changed _everything._" She swallowed. "His name was Sam."

Arklio glared at her. "Does that _matter?_" he demanded.

She looked him in the eye. "Yes, son. It matters. Because I loved Sam. I _trusted _him. And when that trust is shattered, it destroys you on a level you never completely understand." She sighed. "Kill her if you want, but it will not heal you." Tears burned her eyes. "Because, when the day comes, you can never say 'I forgive you.'"

"That day will _never _come." Arklio hissed.

"You think that." Anomaly replied. "But you never know how wrong you are."

He swallowed and turned to Artalia, lying on the ground in front of him.

He raised the knife once more, and brought it down.

It landed inches from her throat, digging into the ground and sparkling with electricity.

He knelt down on the ground, then collapsed, lying on his back. He couldn't catch his breath, and he couldn't stop the tears that flowed from his eyes.

Kierto sat next to his son, and next to his wife. Artalia wrapped her arm around Arklio. For a moment, he was nothing but a young child again; sobbing into his parent's outstretched arms.

At last, they were a family again.


	22. Forgiven

Anomaly closed her eyes. It was all there. Everything she ever wanted. _Her family._

She swallowed. "The day has come for me." She whispered softly. "It's time."

Abby looked at her. "Time for what?"

Anomaly looked back. For the first time since she'd met her, Abby saw peace in the teenager's eyes.

"Time for forgiveness." She replied. "I've forgiven everyone. Arklio, Sam." She closed her eyes again. "Now it's time to forgive myself."

The anomaly opened behind her. She carefully turned around. "I'm coming, Sam." She whispered.

Too late, Abby realized what was happening. "No!" she cried. But the anomaly closed before she could bring Anomaly back.

Artalia smiled, her arm still around her son. "It's ok, Abby. I'm doing what I must do."

* * *

Little five-year-old Sam sat down. Mentally, he was probably eight, but he was still a child.

Which irritated him to no end.

His little sister was only two. She'd been called back by their mother a few minutes ago, so he was alone right now. He bit his lip, hoping she came back soon. He was a little farther away from the city's walls than he'd like.

"Hello." A voice said. A young girl, probably fourteen, came over to him. "What's your name?"

He looked at her. "I shouldn't talk to you." He whispered. "You're from another city, aren't you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I be?"

He shrugged. "I've never seen you before."

She smiled softly. "So you think, big brother."

His eyebrows twisted in confusion, and for the first time, he _really _looked at her. "What?"

But he gasped as he saw the pattern on her face, the beautiful metallic blue eyes that started back at him.

"Artalia!" He breathed.

"Hi, Sam." Her voice was soft, barely a whisper.

He stared at her. "You're… old!"

She laughed. "Thanks. Can I expect grey hair anytime soon?"

He blushed. "I mean, you're _older._"

She nodded. "Fourteen, if you want to get technical."

He looked at her. "Where did you get these?" He asked, gently tracing the scars on her arms, the ones that disappeared under her shirt sleeve.

She smiled sadly. "It's a long story."

He sighed.

Artalia hissed suddenly, irritation filling her eyes. She clutched her pattern, annoyed.

He looked at her. "Are you ok?"

She nodded. "Fine."

He gasped as he saw her pattern. It was a deep purple.

Tears filled his tiny eyes. "Sis? Are you going to die?"

She looked at him. His expression was so pained. "No." She replied.

He gently touched her pattern, where purple ink stained his fingers for a moment, before disappearing. "But… your chip!"

She shrugged. "I'll get a replacement. Don't worry."

He nodded slowly, and for a long time, there was silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was just a deep peace that filled the air.

Finally, she spoke up. "Sam… I'm not going to die." A tear fell down her cheek. "You are."

He looked at her. "What? What do you mean, I'm going to die? When?"

She sighed. "No worries, big brother. You've got quite a few years left." She looked back at him. "But… I want you to know…" She chocked off, unable to speak.

He placed his hand on hers, his small fingers wrapping around one of hers. "What is it?"

She looked deep into his eyes. "I want you to know that it was all a lie. I lied to you. Because…" She chocked again, but kept going, fighting the tears and sobs. "Because I was angry. But I know now." She gently wrapped her arms around him. "I love you, Sam. I can never hate you. And no matter what I say, I will _always _forgive you." She held him at arm's length so she could look into his eyes. "Understand?"

He looked back, his eyes round. "Yes."

She nodded. "Good." She tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.

There was silence again as Artalia tried to regain composure. Finally, Sam took a small necklace from around his neck, handing it to her. "Here."

Carefully, she held out her hand. He slowly dropped it into her palm.

"It was grandpa's." He told her.

Her breath caught. Their grandfather had died when they were very young, but they had always loved him.

She smiled softly, sadly. "You told me you'd lost it." She breathed.

He shrugged. "Well, I didn't. I gave it to you." He sighed. "But… it always helps me when I'm sad. I want you to have it." He placed his hand on her cheek. "Because _you're _sad."

Her smile widened, another tear falling down her cheek, this time landing on his hand. "Thank you, Sam."

Her hand tightened around the necklace, so tight that one of the sharp edges cut into her hand. But she didn't notice, much less care.

He nodded and took his hand from her face. "You're welcome."

At that moment, Arklio came up to them, confusion, fear, irritation, and anger in his eyes. "Can I help you?" He asked Artalia harshly.

Artalia stood, drying her eyes quickly. "No, thank you. I'm fine."

His eyes narrowed. "Than could you please tell me what you wanted with one of _our _city's _children?_" He demanded.

Sam was ready to protest, but Artalia shook her head ever so slightly. He took the hint and remained silent.

She smiled at Arklio. Sam thought it would hurt his cheeks if he had plastered a smile that fake on his lips. "Oh, I'm not from another city. I'm just… traveling." She nodded towards Sam.

"Goodbye, Sam. It was nice seeing you."

He nodded back, knowing he could get in trouble if he said anything.

She smiled. "Very well then. I think I'll be off."

Behind her, a huge anomaly opened up. Sam stared in wide-eyed wonder. Arklio's jaw dropped. Anomalies were easy enough to open up, but it was difficult to open one _that big. _And yet, Artalia was smiling, as though this was the easiest thing in the world.

She stepped backwards into the shining and beautiful light.

"Forgive me, Sam!" She called as the light danced around her, closing as she was half-in and half-out of the portal between times. "I was wrong!"

And she disappeared, the light closing.

Arklio sighed. "Come along, Sam. Let's get you inside."

Sam nodded, but pride was bursting through him. _That was _my _sister!_

* * *

Artalia smiled as Anomaly came back through the shining light. "Better?"

Anomaly smiled back, nodding. "Yes."

Artalia placed a hand on Anomaly's shoulder. "It keeps getting better. It always will."

Arklio came up to her. "Well, Anomaly. I'd revoke your banishment, but it seems there's something else you have to do."

Anomaly nodded. "And I'm ready."

Arklio smiled. "Not quite yet." He gently touched her pattern. "I think I can do one thing to make up for the past six years."

She grabbed his wrist. "You need to do nothing."

His smile widened. "But I want to."

She smiled as well and released his wrist.

Connor swallowed. "Can I watch?" The sci-fi crazed, movie-loving sparkle entered his eyes. A cyborg-creating operation like that was probably his biggest dream.

Anomaly laughed. "It's not that exciting."

He blushed. "Yeah, but it would still be cool."

She laughed again. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Arklio smiled. "Very well. After all, how could I refuse someone I've known since childhood?"

Anomaly looked at him. "So that's where you remembered him from."

He nodded. "Of course."

Artalia grinned. "Come on. We have to finish this, and get time back on course."

* * *

Anomaly was right. The operation wasn't that big a deal. A needle was inserted to remove the defective chip, and another needle inserted to replace it.

"The chips are specifically coded." She told Connor as the first needle slid into her pattern. "We have to lock on to some sort of machine to survive. It becomes our lifeline." She swallowed and continued. "The ADD was mine. Now, if someone upgrades the machine or does something to it while I'm attached, I'll be fine. But if they start messing around with the wires, I would die before my chip could reset itself to the new adaptations." She shrugged, which didn't look too easy while she was lying down with a needle in her head.

"Hold still." Arklio whispered.

"Sorry."

"So _that's _why you always wanted to know when I was working on the ADD." Connor said, understanding.

"Yep. I didn't exactly want to die."

He smiled. "No one does."

There was silence for a long time.

Finally, Abby, who was sitting next to Connor, spoke up. "Anomaly… what's going to happen now?"

Anomaly sighed and spoke in English. "Well, I can't come back to the ARC."

Lester bristled. "Why not?"

She smiled. "Because I have to go to the past. Well, my past, your future. But I have to meet Kierto."

"But… we need you." Jenny said. "You're a valuable addition to the team."

Lester sighed. "Despite all your… quirks."

Anomaly grinned. "Thank you." She whispered. "You don't know how much it means to me that you came back."

Lester rolled his eyes.

Connor smiled. "That's as close as you're going to get to an apology." He said in her language.

Her smile widened. "I know. But I'll take it."

"I'll come." Artalia said. "I spent a few years with you before I came back here." She smiled. "I knew you'd need me."

Cutter nodded. "We do need you. You have abilities that we can barely understand."

Artalia shrugged. "I'll leave you some information when I have to leave, but I'll be with the team for a while. Help out with the different creatures that come through."

"And when you have to leave?" Lester demanded.

"Well, I have an idea." Anomaly replied for her future self. "Obviously, it won't replace an empathic, anomaly-controlling future human, but it would be nice for you to have an empath on your side, to convince the creatures to go back through the anomalies."

She turned her head slightly. "Ikesa! Knorlo Malkot?"

Ikesa nodded once.

She grinned.

"Ikesa…" Connor's eyebrows twisted in confusion. "Ice eyes? His name is Ice Eyes?"

She smiled. "Yes."

Connor started going through the Florlic's names. "Kesea… Kelsey. And… Ferakesa… Fire eyes!"

"Of course." Artalia replied. "But Kesea's pregnant. Ikesa's the father."

A few gasps filled the air.

Anomaly smiled. "Yes, and she's informed me that she wants at least one of her children to stay with you."

"No longer pregnant." Kierto said, coming into the room, a tiny bundle of fur in his arms. Small wings stretched away from the puppy's back. "She gave birth while you two were fighting." He informed them, gesturing to Arklio and Artalia.

Artalia gently took the puppy from Kierto with a smile.

"This is the one she wants to go with you." Kierto said. "She pointed him out."

Artalia walked over to Abby and handed her the puppy. Abby took it without question. "He's so cute!"

Artalia nodded. "He won't replace someone like us, but he can help. Besides, I figured you'd want another pet. You've got what, three already?" She scoffed. "All from the past. Lame! Here's one from your future."

Abby laughed, gently stroking the puppy under the chin. "He's adorable."

"What's his name?" Anomaly asked.

Abby thought for a minute. She whispered something in Anomaly's ear, who grinned and whispered back.

Abby smiled. "Conorao." She said. "His name's Conorao."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "You named him after me?"

Abby nodded and walked over to Connor, placing a kiss directly on his lips. He didn't complain, kissing her back.

Anomaly smiled.

"There." Arklio said, removing the needle from her pattern. "You're done."

Anomaly smiled and sat up. "Great."

"One last thing." Connor said. "Why can I suddenly understand you?"

Artalia grinned. "My fault." She reached behind his ear and pulled out a small chip. "I put it there before you came through to this time."

He raised an eyebrow as she put it back. "How?"

She shrugged. "I reached in through a smaller anomaly. Just the arm. Completely unnoticeable, if you're not looking." She grinned and put the chip back behind his ear.

At that point, the Florlics came into the room, Ikesa and Ferakesa helping to bring in Kesea. She looked weak, but determined. Three tiny puppies rested on the Florlic's backs, in between the wings.

Anomaly grinned. "I think we're all ready."

She turned to Steven. "Goodbye, solider."

He nodded his goodbye. "See you soon, Anomaly."

She walked over to Connor and Abby. "Goodbye. I'll miss you. And… sorry about that thing with the cliff." She hugged the two of them.

They grinned. "No harm done." Connor replied as she broke away.

"The sunrise was beautiful." Abby added.

She turned to Jenny. "Goodbye, Claudia."

Jenny's lip twitched upwards. "What's wrong with Jenny?"

She hugged Jenny. "Nothing at all. That's exactly the point." She stepped back. "Remember that."

She looked at Cutter. "You remember that, too."

Cutter smiled softly. "I do."

She smiled back and turned to Lester. "Thank you, Lester. For everything. I mean, I know I wasn't exactly a perfect team member, but…" She grinned. "You handled it _pretty _well."

He rolled his eyes.

She grinned and hugged him, despite his protests. Finally, he consented and carefully wrapped his arms around her with a deep sigh.

She stepped back. "I'm going to miss you. All of you."

Artalia placed a hand on her shoulder. "You'll see them again. Don't worry."

She smiled and turned to her older self. "I know." She sighed. "Let's go."

Artalia took Anomaly's hand, and a huge anomaly opened up in front of them.

"Time to make things right." Artalia whispered.

Anomaly swallowed. "I'm ready."

And they stepped through.

* * *

He didn't know who the newcomer was.

She didn't have the mark of banishment, but the scars she was covered in indicated that she'd been in the desert for a long time.

Kierto struggled to get closer. It was difficult to get through the crowd of curious people also trying to get through.

The newcomer was around his age, had metallic blue eyes, and an intricate and beautiful pattern surrounding her right eye.

"Kierto!" His father, one of the council, ordered. "You are her guide. Stay with her until she is used to our city."

Kierto nodded once, though inside he was smiling. He was going to get a chance to meet her before everyone else.

The girl came up next to him. "Hi."

"Hello."

"I was told that you're going to help me?" She asked, smiling. "I'm kinda new."

He nodded and extended a hand. "I'm Kierto."

She smiled and shook it, her face lighting up. "I'm Anomaly."

**A/N: Yay! My first finished fanfiction! I'll probably write an epilouge, though, because I'm having a hard time giving up the story. :) So I'm not going to put it as complete yet. Also, I know I introduced the pregnant Florlic thing too quickly, sorry. I meant to have that through the whole story, but it didn't quite work. Hope you all enjoyed it! Please tell me if there's anything you're confused about, or if I forgot to explain anything, and I'll fix it. Thanks!**


	23. Epilogue: Anomaly of Two Worlds

**Epilogue**

"And they found me waiting for them when they came back from my time."

Andrew looked up at Anomaly with wide eyes. He was paying close attention to every word that came from the woman's mouth, though he probably had no idea what she meant.

"That old story again?" Connor chuckled, easily slipping into her language (He'd decided to learn it when he'd come back and was able to get rid of the chip behind his ear after two years, though he kept it in a drawer in case of emergencies).

"Aw, you know he loves it." Anomaly grinned, lifting the small child into her arms. Andrew giggled as she tickled him.

Connor laughed. Andrew's giggles were contagious. He held out his arms and Anomaly handed him his son. "But how many times have you told him it? In _both _of our languages, I might add."

She grinned. "Abby's never going to forgive me for that, is she?"

"I think not."

"She isn't!" Abby entered the room (She'd picked up pieces of Anomaly's language from her husband).

"Aw, come on…" Connor smiled, speaking in English.

"When's he going to use it?" Abby demanded. "It's not like he's going to make a quick trip in time and land in the future. He'll never _need _to know your language."

Anomaly grinned and sped over to Abby's side. "You've got to be kidding me. Connor learned it!"

"Well, no one can control _him._" Abby said with mock exasperation.

Anomaly laughed. She knew Abby's real reason for not wanting Andrew to learn her language; Anomaly would be leaving soon, and it would be hard enough. The two had become best friends over the years, (she had even helped out at hers and Connor's wedding) and Andrew speaking her language all the time would just bring the fact that she was gone to the surface.

"You think Lester will need us today?" Connor asked, wisely changing the subject.

"Need _you two, _maybe." Abby snorted. "I'm staying home, remember?"

Anomaly grinned, only at Abby's and Connor's home because she'd been babysitting Andrew the night before. "Oh, he'll need us."

"Ouch." Connor winced. "That bad, eh?"

Anomaly nodded. "It's going to be _huge._" She replied calmly.

He sighed. "We'd better go, then." Connor kissed his wife on the cheek. Anomaly ran to the car and waited for Connor, who quickly got his things together and came with her, Conorao close behind. The Florlic jumped into the back seat.

"So, anyway." Connor started talking as soon as he came out to the car, then visibly froze as he saw Anomaly in the driver's seat. "Not happening."

Anomaly frowned. "Why not?"

"You drive like a maniac. How you ever got your license is beyond me." He sighed and waited until, pouting, she went to the passenger's side.

"It's not my fault every else drives like Kertans." She mumbled under her breath.

Connor grinned. "Well, as I was saying, we're going to need you to baby sit for Andrew again tonight. Abby's going to the doctor's again…" A worried look crossed his face.

She looked at him. "Nervous?"

"Sort of."

"Don't be. I know what's 'wrong'."

He looked at her, and she pointed out the window. "Eyes on the road." She advised. He obeyed.

He only let the silence last for a moment. "So what's wrong with her?"

"She's pregnant again, duh." She rolled her eyes and Connor's hands became like iron on the wheel. "I thought you knew that."

Shock passed over Connor's face. It made sense. And it wasn't as though Anomaly wasn't a reliable source; it wasn't the first time she'd accurately diagnosed pregnancy before a doctor did; her empathic abilities were particularly in tune with children. Only, with Andrew, she'd told Abby first, not Connor.

"Again?" The shock slowly ebbed from his face, to be replaced with a huge smile. "She's pregnant again?"

"Oh, congrats, look who's got a daughter!" Anomaly laughed.

"It's a _girl?" _

"No, Con. I just said daughter because I felt like it." She snorted. "Eyes on the _road!_"

A flurry of emotions was passing over Connor's face, and he smiled happily. Anomaly chuckled.

Then froze.

"Pull over, Con." She whispered softly.

Connor did as she asked, knowing better than to ask questions.

She got out of the car and headed towards the small, empty field.

"No." Tears streamed down her face. "No, I don't want to go yet…"

Connor came up behind her. "Anomaly? What is…?" He trailed off. "Oh."

There, in front of them, was an anomaly. Standing in front of _that _was a young Ferakesa. The Florlic looked at its master and whimpered.

"But…" Connor trailed off again. All of Anomaly's Florlics had stayed with Kierto in the future. She'd taken then with her when she was fourteen, but then they'd stayed behind when she came to help the ARC team.

Anomaly swallowed. "No." She whispered softly.

It was only then that Connor figured it out. "You have to go." He said gently.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I don't want to see my son that way." She whispered.

Despite the years that he'd had to wrap his head around the 'time travel' thing, Connor still had a hard time figuring out where Anomaly was going. "You have to meet your son." He remembered. "This is when we met the adult you. Artalia. When she, when _you, _fought Arklio." He looked at her. "You're going to have your family back, Anomaly!"

She glared back. "Don't you get it, Con? I'll never see you again!"

"But you'll have your son, Anomaly, and he needs you." Connor replied.

She sighed deeply. "I know. I just wish I could have told the others goodbye."

He wrapped her arms around her. "I'll do it for you, I promise."

She nodded quickly. "It's probably… better this way, you know?" She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

He smiled. "I know."

She sighed again. "I'll miss you, Con."

"I'll miss you too, Anomaly."

"Maybe we'll see each other again?" She asked hopefully.

He chuckled. "Maybe we will."

She nodded and, not daring to say another word, walked soundlessly to the fourteen-year-old Anomaly's Ferakesa. He wagged his tail happily as she entered the anomaly, following close behind.

There was one last battle to be fought, and then she'd be together with Kierto and Arklio. They would be a _family._

* * *

Kierto, Anomaly, and their son, Arklio, were just sitting there when the anomaly opened up.

Kierto and Anomaly jumped. Arklio just looked at it with wide eyes and said something that sounded suspiciously like 'pretty light'.

Kierto looked at Anomaly with an expression of horror on his face. "You're leaving?" He whispered.

She looked down. "We knew this would come, Kierto."

"This soon?" Kierto's voice cracked. "Anomaly, surely you could stay a little longer…?"

She shook her head. "No. This anomaly leads straight to the ARC. I have to be there when the team comes back to it, remember? And then I fight Arklio, and then we're together again…"

"That still confuses me." He remarked, then sighed deeply. "Please don't go."

"I have to." She looked at her husband, her eyes full of grief and pain. "But I'll be back before you know it. Once Arklio grows up, you'll see a little mini-me pop up. You'll watch me grow up until I'm six, then get banished, and see me live in the desert until I'm fourteen…" She sighed deeply, though she'd been trying to remain cheerful.

"I'll never be able to say all those things to you." Kierto said softly. "To talk to you like… like I hate you. Like you're a monster. Like _I'm _a monster." He shivered.

She gently wrapped her arms around him. "I'll be back." She promised firmly.

He took a long look at her, then brought his lips to hers.

"Pretty light." Arklio repeated. The two broke off with a smile.

Anomaly lifted her son into her arms. "It's hard to imagine you giving me that much grief." She said with a chuckled, kissing Arklio's tiny forehead. He squealed with laughter, making his parents smile.

"I love you, Arklio." Anomaly whispered in her son's ear.

"Love you!" Arklio giggled.

Anomaly kissed her husband one last time.

"I love you, Anomaly." He whispered.

"I love you too." She set Arklio down.

She turned to the Anomaly and walked through it without another word.

* * *

As Connor, Abby, Jenny, Lester and Cutter came through the anomaly after Artalia had fought Arklio, they found Anomaly waiting for them.

She grinned. "Been sleeping on the job, I see. You have an anomaly alert."

Behind the smile, Anomaly was thinking of her little son, back at home. But she would see him again, in a few years time.

* * *

After Anomaly and the ARC team had both gone to their proper times, 'Artalia' turned to face her family, smiling brightly.

"I missed you so much." She breathed.

Their family was together again. And they always would be.

* * *

_Anomaly did visit us, from time to time. She was so much happier than she used to be. She laughed more, she smiled more, she talked almost non-stop about her son, who we had once known only as a cruel, vicious man, who experimented on empaths and banished Anomaly from her home. We hadn't thought that he knew it was his mother, and was punishing her for leaving him. _

_She once told us what his full name was. Arklio Nortoanomaly. Roughly translated: _Loyal One, Son of Anomaly. _It was then that I really understood why she'd never said his name. Oh, she'd never thought that he was her _son, _not for a long time. Not until one time, when Lester made her angry. She'd screamed his last name in rage, then realized what had happened._

_Naturally, she was horrified. It was also the day that Sam died. According to her, she never would have found him if she hadn't run out there, screaming 'No! He can't be, he can't be!' He would have never found her, either. _

_I think she's finally forgiven herself, though. I can say with certainty that Anomaly has changed completely, absolutely. Her hatred and terror and rage slowly morphed._

_The difference between the Anomaly I can now call my 'friend' and the terrified young girl we found trapped on this side of the anomaly is phenomenal. She has become a completely different person, and the change was for the better. _

_It was only after Anomaly left, however, that I began to really think about who she was and, more importantly, what her name was._

_Anomaly. It's a curious word. You can ask many different people what they think it means, and you will get many different answers. You may be told that an anomaly is a portal between two different times. You may be told that an anomaly is something that doesn't belong._

_However, if you asked Anomaly herself, you would get the best answer. As she once pointed out, an anomaly is: __A deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form. _

_The word is the perfect definition of who Anomaly herself was. In her world, she was far from the 'common rule' or 'type.' She didn't conform to what was considered 'normal.' She was an Anomaly._

_In our world, well, it was the same story. She was hardly the 'common rule, type, arrangement or form'. She wasn't even the same species!_

_I believe she will always be an 'anomaly,' no matter where she is. She is hardly typical, and certainly doesn't 'belong' in any type of group, save one._

_Perhaps her family is part of that anomaly, part of that abnormality that she is. After all, she gets along with _them_. (Forgetting the natural family arguments in which Arklio held a knife to her throat, but that's not the point)._

_But, no matter where or when she is, Anomaly will always be exactly that. By name and nature, she is an anomaly._

Cutter set down his pen with a deep sigh. Jenny looked in from the other room. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing. Just… putting on the finishing touches." He grinned.

"Oh. The Anomaly thing, eh?" She questioned.

He nodded. "I think we owe it to…" he gestured to her swollen stomach.

She grinned, fiddling with the golden ring on her finger. "Don't forget Andrew and Artalia."

He smiled. "Of course. Artalia will want to know where her name came from."

Jenny smiled back. "And Andrew will want to know where he got all those words Anomaly taught him from." She thought for a minute. "You know, that's one thing I forgot. When we first met Anomaly, she didn't know a word of English. And I know she learnt some from… Claudia… but she can't have learnt the whole _dictionary. _She had to read the words to understand them, remember?"

"Ah, yes. I asked her that once."

"You did?"

He nodded. "She told me something like: 'you have to remember, our species was once human. You're languages never really died out; somewhere in the back of our minds, our subconscious, parts of it lingered. It may vary from person to person on how those parts are activated, like how I had to read it, but it's still _there. _And if you have a chip implanted in your brain, helping to activate those parts of the brain, it doesn't exactly hurt.'"

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "And you remembered all that, in her exact words, did you?"

Cutter grinned and lifted up a paper from his desk, where the words were written in a notepad.

Jenny chuckled. "Thought so."

There was silence for a long time.

"You almost done?" Jenny finally asked, her voice soft.

Cutter nodded. "Almost."

She nodded back, slowly. "All right. I'll… leave you to it, then."

She walked out of the room.

Cutter turned back to the stack of paper, picked up his pen, and looked at his last words. After a moment, he began to write again.

_But, whether she is an anomaly or not, she changed a lot in the years she spent at the ARC. She taught us many things. She taught me that Jenny was a brilliant person, and that I really loved _her, _not just the things about Claudia that I saw in her. And I know that she taught Jenny that she didn't need to live in Claudia's shadow all the time, because she _wasn't _Claudia and never had been._

_I think she also opened Abby and Connor's eyes. I'll never really know what happened during that sunrise in her time, but it seemed to change things. Of course, Connor is still the movie-loving video-game-crazed person we all knew, but I think he know now that there's more to life than that._

_Steven took it badly when Anomaly left. I don't know what it was about those two that made them friends, and even asked Steven once. He said something along the lines of: "The battle was always ready for us" and I knew I would never truly understand. But he has never let go of the knife she gave him in that desert, and I'm certain that he will take it to his grave._

_Lester, on the other hand, continues to act as though Anomaly was just a 'valuable addition to the team, with many helpful characteristics and abilities'. This didn't stop him from organizing a search when she dismantled his chair, though, which she did the day after we came back from her time, after the fight with Arklio. Anomaly thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world, and easily escaped capture from every solider in the place, until a very tired and exasperated Lester called off the search three days later due to an anomaly alert. At that point, Anomaly just walked in casually as though she'd never been missing. Lester was furious, naturally._

_But even Lester has been affected by this strange girl who wouldn't say her name or her son's for six years. He finally learned to stop protesting when she tried to hug him, at least. Though he'll never admit it, Lester and Anomaly have become friends over the years, and I have no doubt that, if necessary, either of them would trust their lives in the other's hands._

_So, yes, she was an 'anomaly.' _

_But she was also a friend. And she was one of the best things that ever happened to the ARC. _

Cutter took a deep breath and sighed heavily, setting down his pen once more. He smiled softly and went to see his wife, waiting for him in the other room.

As he left, something strange happened. A brilliant, distorted, shimmering light flared in the room. A woman came out, with brilliant metallic blue eyes and a beautiful pattern surrounding one of them.

Anomaly looked around, searching for Cutter. Instead, she found the stack of papers on his desk.

She looked at it curiously. When she was finished, tears were prickling her eyes, and a huge smile found its way across her face. She looked around for Cutter, and found him sitting next to Jenny on the couch. They were watching a movie, sitting in silence.

She smiled softly and walked back to the other room. She'd talk to them later. Let them enjoy themselves.

She walked back to the anomaly she'd come through, taking one last look at the paper.

_And she was one of the best things that ever happened to the ARC._

She smiled. "Thank you." She breathed.

She stepped back through the anomaly, closing it behind her.

She smiled at her waiting family.

"Back so soon?" Arklio inquired.

She shrugged. "They were busy."

He smiled.

Anomaly looked first at Arklio, then at Kierto. A strange kind of peace and happiness surged through her.

At last, the anomaly of two worlds had found a home.

**A/N: Ok, **_**now **_**it's finished. :) Hope you all enjoyed it! Please review!**


End file.
